Naruto no Enton
by Abel Sephaos
Summary: Five years after the sealing of the Kyuubi, Naruto asks Hiruzen to tell him a story. The elderly man explains to Naruto the 'will of fire', and being only five years old, takes it quite literally as fire.
1. Prologue

Naruto no Enton

Disclaimer:

I do not own anything labeled under Naruto, all means of production, and canon belong to Kishimoto.

Any original idea strewn about throughout this fan fiction, however, belongs to me.

This story is Un-beta'd. If anyone would like to help me out, feel free :D

**Authors notes:**

**This is my first fan fiction, and I rather enjoy the idea. It came to me whilst smoking the last cigarette in the pack, and burned myself rather painfully. I know stupid right? Eh, whatever. I know the idea may be farfetched, but bear with me, and maybe leave me some ideas and reviews. I'm merely doing this for entertainment, and maybe a bit of inspiration later on in life. Who knows?**

**I will be using English translations of the techniques, seeing as I do not know Japanese, and what I do is rather sparse.**

**Pairings will NOT be the following:**

**Naruto X Hinata**

**Naruto X Sakura**

**Naruto X Sasuke**

**Naruto X Ino**

**Im sorry if that's not what some of you are wanting, but I cannot even write those pairings in good faith. There are far too many of them on fanfiction as it is, and I will not feed the masses in that way.**

Summary:

Five years after the sealing of the Kyuubi, Naruto is confronted by Hiruzen. The elderly man explains to Naruto the 'will of fire', and being only five years old, takes it quite literally as fire. Merely days later, the young jinchuuriki stumbles upon a few Uchiha shinobi training with Katon techniques, furthering his already peaking curiosity to this 'will of fire'. Now watch and learn as Naruto paves a new path for Hi no Kuni and maybe the Elemental nations as a whole.

The weather was cool, surprising the many denizens of Konohagakure who wandered the streets. It was just a week before the Kyuubi festival, and it showed in the streets of the village. Decorations of the Yondaime defeating the nine tailed fox littered the buildings, and merchants were pouring into the village, carrying varied goods. Children played in the streets, unburdened by the bite of the chilling weather. Parents of said children congregated in groups, whispering and laughing with one another of unimportant gossip. The shinobi of Konoha stuck to the rooftops, traversing at paces only the experienced could achieve, Coming and going from the tower in the center of the village. The tower contained the mission archive, and the leader of Konoha, the Hokage. The many warriors of the village collected their missions, and went about their business to prepare for said missions. The sun was setting behind the Hokage monument, where the faces of the past and present Hokages' were carved into the side of a mountain, forever overlooking the village hidden in the leaves.

All was well in the village, business went on as usual, parents and merchants came and went. Children played and laughed... Well, almost all children. One child was left out of the games, and the cheer of the holiday week. That child was Uzumaki Naruto, the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, the very same monster that nearly wiped Konoha off the map five years previous. The citizens of Konoha shunned him, spat on him, and hated him for containing the very beast that nearly destroyed their home. They couldn't see past their grief, their sorrow, or their anger. They couldn't see the child suffering. No, all they saw was the Kyuubi incarnate. Naruto was given wide berth when he walked the streets, and was allowed no services that citizens need to survive. He was removed, sometimes physically, from the shops of Konoha. The leader of the village, his surrogate grandfather was none the wiser to his treatment.

Naruto hid from the many people that occupied the streets, preferring to keep to the back streets of the village to remain unburdened in his travels. He was just a few minutes from meeting his grandfather, Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage. His bright blue eyes kept glancing around rapidly, almost as if he was paranoid. His travels were quiet, and well hidden. He always hid around this time of year, as the villagers got annoyed quickly by his presence. It wasn't his fault, truly, but he was ignorant to the fact he housed the Kyuubi. He finally reached the Hokage tower, and pushed through the wide double doors that led way to Sarutobi's office. Said man quickly looked up from the paperwork he was going through and smiled when his eyes met young Narutos. "Naru-Chan, how are you?" the wizened man spoke, relieved for the break from his paperwork. Naruto merely smiled at his grandfather, showing a pair of slightly yellow teeth. "Hey hokage-jiji," Naruto practically shouted, "I wanna hear a story!"

The leader of the village simply smiled, and rose from his desk. "Alright, little Naru-Chan. What would you like to hear?" The elderly man asked Naruto, smiling down at him. Said boy looked abashed, and scuffed his feet against the hardwood flooring. "I'm not sure, Jiji, anything!" Naruto said, looking back up after a few moments of consideration. Sarutobi chuckled well naturedly and walked around his desk, placing a hand on the blond child's shoulder. "Tell me little one… have you ever heard of the 'will of fire'?" The child looked up, his eyes alight with curiosity befitting the tender age he was. "Nope, wha's it bout jiji?" asked the child, bouncing on his heels. The old man laughed, deep and gentle. "That, Naruto, is a good question…" Began the Hokage, looking down at Naruto, "How about we start from the very beginning?"


	2. Enter the 'will of fire?

Naruto no Enton, Chapter One.

Disclaimer:

I don't own Naruto, or any characters in the series. All rights belong to Kishimoto.

Authors notes:

**Well, here is chapter one of the story, which I've had difficulty writing. In all reality, I'm not sure where I'm going with this story, so I'm hoping that someone could give me a few tips and pointers. This will NOT be a harem, nor will Naruto be god-like. He will be a true shinobi. He will not wear a cliché trench coat with the Kyuubi on the back with some dramatic pose and kanji representing goodness knows what.**

**He might, however, be fashioned in cammies. I'm not quite sure yet.**

**Any ideas are welcome.**

The discussion that followed Hiruzens**'** question left Naruto baffled to say the least. The elderly man had gone and discussed the two wars he fought in, expressing the seriousness in the situation. Naruto stopped him to ask questions every now and then, sometimes to even praise his 'Jiji'. It was just a few hours before midnight before the Hokage stopped speaking, and sometime during it Naruto had fallen asleep.

The Hokage smiled gently, gathering the young boy in his arms and used the **Shunshin **technique to take the boy home. Arriving in the classic plume of smoke, the Sandaime couldn't be more shocked to find the hideous condition of the boys' apartment.

The ANBU he had patrolling the area had said the boys abode was well furnished and well taken care of, as Hiruzen didn't have time to come and visit the boy since he had gotten the apartment a few months back.

Apparently, even his most trusted soldiers had a grudge against be boy, as they are the only ones who knew of his location. 'Heads are going to ROLL!' The Hokage screamed into his head, his vision practically turning red.

He placed the boy down in his bed, and promptly created three **Kage Bunshin**, or shadow clones, to clean up the apartment. It was eight hours later that Naruto woke up, his curious gaze reaching across his home.

'What the…' the boy wondered, seeing as this was the cleanest his room had ever been, even before it was purchased for him. He sat up in bed and swung over the edge, his bare feet touching down on cold wooden flooring.

'All I remember is Jiji talking about that… 'Will of fire' thing last night, and talking about all the cool ninja stuff he did back in his day…' Naruto pondered, walking towards his bathroom. He began his morning routine, such as brushing his teeth and showering in deathly cold water.

Soon, he was dressed in black shorts that reached right above his kneecaps, and a white T-shit with an orange spiral on the back. He slipped his feet into solid black Shinobi Sandals, and rushed from his apartment, making sure to lock it behind him.

It was still early, so he began his morning jog around Konoha, taking in the sights. Some might say he was too young to be training, but Hiruzen had told him that jogging would help him later on in his Shinobi career.

Soon, he found a nice spot to train, with enough trees to hide him from prying eyes. Naruto would mostly work on flexibility like the nice Inu-mask ANBU had told him, and then Cardio like that strange guy in spandex said.

'Hokage-Jiji had said that the 'will of fire' thingy burned brightly in me… did he mean a real fire?' Naruto asked himself, sitting down Indian style after finishing a set of mountain climbers. He closed his eyes and starting reaching into himself, trying to find that 'fire' his Jiji had told him about.

Time had passed gracefully by, leaving the boy to search for his fire in peace. After hours of searching, the five year old boy had found an odd intensity deep inside himself. It was like a fire, warm and comforting, and oddly enough it felt as if it were a part of him.

He reached out towards the fire, and embraced its heat. He memorized where to find the heat, and tried to draw it to the surface. Narutos eyes opened quickly, noticing his limbs covered in azure blue 'fire'.

Naruto was amazed, his bright blue eyes wide in wonder. The flames kept close to his body, surrounding him in an ethereal glow. He basked in the warmth for what he though was hours, but in reality were just a few minutes before passing out in exhaustion.

Naruto groaned and opened his eyes slowly, a bright white light creeping in between his eye lids. A sharp pain throbbed in the back of his head, causing him to quickly close his eyes tight.

A voice brought him from his suffering as he felt a steady hand on his forehead, and the pain slowly faded away. Narutos' eyes opened again, slowly but surely, to find the sight of the Hokage smiling down at him.

"Wha… What happened to me now Jiji?" asked Naruto through a raspy voice, who soon began to cough rather violently.

The Hokage handed him a glass of water which he took gratefully, downing it in just a few gulps. He leaned up in bed, shaking his head slightly. The Hokage spoke up, looking up at the ceiling.

"Naruto, can you tell me what you were doing at the training ground?" asked Hiruzen, a look of wisdom coming to the surface of his eyes. He knew the boy had accessed his chakra, as he had been watching him through his crystal ball.

Naruto simply smiled, and cocked his head to the side. "I was searching for my will of fire, "the boy started, "I wanna be just like you Jiji!" he shouted.

Hiruzen smiled, but shook his head slowly. "Naruto, what you did was access you chakra…" the Hokage laughed, ruffling the boy's hair with his old hands.

Naruto simply pouted, crossing his arms over his chest. "But… why can't I use the will of fire like you can Jiji?" Naruto asked, disappointed that he didn't have the same thing as his grandfather.

The elder Sarutobi couldn't help but laugh, shaking his head at Narutos expression.

"Naruto, I use chakra as well. It's the source of all shinobi techniques besides taijutsu, and sometimes it's even used for that." The Hokage explained, sitting down in the chair that was beside Narutos bed.

The boy looked on in wonder as Hiruzen explained chakra and all it's used for, entrapping the boy in his words. It was another discussion that Naruto took to heart, and tried to stay awake till the end of his discussion.

Naruto learned from hearing and doing, rather than seeing it in a book, so Hiruzen had to show Naruto the **ram** seal, and told him how to gather chakra on his own. Sarutobi then went on to explain the different chakra natures to the child, furthering his own pride in Naruto when he didn't zone out like he might have on any other topic.

"Jiji, you said the fire inside of me was strong… do you think I could use fire style techniques?" Naruto asked, looking up to the Hokage with pleading eyes.

The leader of Konoha couldn't just say no, so he had to choose his words very wisely on the subject. "Naruto, with hard work and patience, anything is achievable. I have no doubt you will be able to use **Katon** techniques."

With those words, Naruto practically jumped from his bed, eager to get started. The patriarch of the Sarutobi clan simply placed his hands on Narutos' shoulder, calming him down a good deal. He simply shook his head and explained to the child that he needed his rest, and that he is barely recovered from chakra exhaustion.

Naruto simply nodded his head and lay back in bed, crossing his arms behind his head and closing his eyes. Sarutobi smiled gently as the boy fell back asleep, and left soon after in the classic **Shunshin**, arriving back at his office in time to get his paper work done. The once retired Hokage glanced at the pictures of his fellow Hokage, and smiled sadly when his eye fell onto the photo of the Yondaime.

'You would be proud of your boy, Minato. He's a spitting image of you, and if things keep up… He may be a greater legend then even you.' Were Sarutobi's thoughts as he began his work for the day.

**Well, it was another rather short chapter, and I'm hoping the ones from here on out will be at least 2 to 5 thousand word count. This chapter pulled 1447 words, which I suppose is rather decent for a first chapter. Next chapter, Naruto stumbles upon a few Uchiha shinobi practicing fire techniques. What will this do for our young shinobi in training?**

**This is a repost of chapter 1, fixing the matriarch/patriarch flaw that many have pointed out to me.**


	3. The will burns brightly

Naruto no Enton, chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **

**I don't own Naruto, or anything affiliated with the series. All rights belong to Kishimoto.**

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**Authors notes:**

**Well, good morning or goodnight to some. Thank you for reading the new chapter to Naruto no Enton.**

**I woke up this morning with an amazing surprise. Well over twenty have either favorite this story, or added myself to their author alerts. This surely brought a smile to my face, and quite a bit of confusion. The two reviewers made very good points and I'd like to address them before the story gets under way.**

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**ScorpionKing12: **Yes, Enton is blaze control, but I don't think I'm going to make it a Kekkai Genkai. I got the idea from both the Nidaime and Sandaime Tsuchikage, who use dust release. Dust release is the mixture of Katon, Futon and Doton chakra and using said mixture to make jutsu. I'm going to be using this idea, but instead simply mix Futon and Katon chakra to make the jutsu. The wind would fuel the fire, and make the Katon techniques much stronger than the rest, maybe even changing the base color to the flames. I do remember in the manga, during the kage summit meeting, that sasuke had used an 'enton' technique, which was simply using Amaterasu and calling it a 'jutsu'. I plan on making actual techniques, instead of using Kekkai Genkai.

As for the mortal ghost rider idea, while it's rather appealing, I've seen something like that done before. I can't remember the stories name, or the authors, but I do remember the scene where Naruto judges warajis' soul, which was one of Gatos' personal thugs. Weapon wise, I do see him wielding a Bo staff, but I can also see him wielding a Spear or a lance. The pairing WILL be fem! Haku, or if enough people ask for it, Male! Haku.

**Yami Kurushimi: **Your absolutely right, thank you so much for the advice. I'll follow it to the T, as I'm extremely picky about my fan fictions myself. Hopefully this chapter will be better. Sorry if my response wasn't the longest, I'm just not sure on what to say back.

**Puppet4Master1:** Thank you for your kind words! I'm very surprised at how many people who have subscribed to this fic. Your words warm my heart! :D

**On with the story!**

****

Naruto was made to stay in the hospital for five more days to give his body time to adjust to his newly found chakra, and the boy couldn't be more restless. He was released into the care of Hiruzen, who promptly brought the boy back to his office.

"Naruto," began the Sandaime, "I want to talk to you about what you experienced the other day… can you describe it to me?"

Naruto simply nodded his head, and began to ponder over what to say. Soon, words began to spring forth from his mouth like a fountain.

"Well, I was training my body like Inu-san and the strange guy in spandex had told me," Naruto began, "but after a while, I had remembered what you told me about the will of fire…"

Hiruzen simply nodded his head, and motioned for him to continue, his gaze settling upon the boy.

"I had sat down and dug deep into myself, like you had told me to do. I was sitting there for hours before I felt it…" Naruto began to mumble here, which piqued Hiruzens curiosity.

"You had said it would be warmth, like a calling to me… I found it, but it wasn't my will of fire, just my chakra..." Naruto groaned, disappointed in himself for not finding the will.

Hiruzen cackled madly for a moment, which turned into full blown laughter, causing him to hold his sides. When it seemed tears would start rolling down his face, Naruto got agitated.

"It's not funny Jiji!" the blond jinchuuriki shouted, raising his fist in the air. He shook violently, but soon just gave up and looked downcast.

Hiruzen simply kept laughing for a good five minutes before calming down, but the humor remained in his eyes. 'He thinks the will of fire is something physical… maybe I can work with this..'

The Sandaime cleared his throat, which gained Narutos attention. "Naruto, I understand how you feel… I wasn't able to find my will of fire until I was about thirteen years old, just moments after Tobi-Sensei had died…" The Sandaime started, the humor leaving his eyes only to be replaced with remorse.

"He had sacrificed himself to hold back a large platoon of Kumo Shinobi, to give time for me and my team time to escape… He put himself in harm's way to see us live… That is the will of fire."

Naruto stared at his adopted grandfather in shock, but a grin soon found its way to his face. "Don't worry Jiji, I'll find my will of fire soon, I promise!" Naruto stuck his hand out at this point, motioning for Hiruzen to shake it.

The elderly Sarutobi simply smiled sadly, and took Narutos hand in his own, sealing the fate of both Konoha, and the elemental nations.

****

Naruto left the Hokage tower soon after, his mind racing. 'Jiji said it took his sensei dying to find his will… I don't have a sensei, and if I did I wouldn't want them to die over it…'

The blond jinchuuriki wandered the streets of Konoha with no set destination, his gaze stretching well over a thousand yards. Lost in thought, Naruto stumbled upon a few ninjas with Uchiwa fans adorning their back training. Every five minutes or so, a loud cry of **"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" **would permeate the air, and large fireballs spanning the whole training field would erupt from the Shinobis mouths. By this time Naruto was broken from his thoughts, and wonderment set deep in his mind.

'These guys… is this the will of fire Jiji was talking about..?' Naruto wondered to himself, and fell back on his rear end to watch them train.

He watched the strange hand movements they used before shouting out the name of their technique, trying his best to memorize the movements. They continued to use the movements for a few more minutes before they called it quits, both shuffling from the training fields.

'Wow… Those guys were amazing!' Naruto shouted to himself, who has yet to get up from his spot. He sat there for a little while longer, thinking over what he just seen, and remembering the hand movements they used before raising from his spot on the ground.

He moved quickly and quietly to the spot he had seen the others training at, and looked around. Seeing no one, he tried moving his hands into the position he had seen the two Uchiha using, which were seven in total.

After an hour of practicing the hand seals, or what he thought they were at least, he tried adding his 'chakra' to them like his Jiji had said. After the last hand seal, he shouted the techniques name and tried shooting out a large fireball.

All that came forth was a large plume of smoke, which while hot enough to sear his throat and bring tears to his eyes, was not hot enough to burn anything like the other ninja had been doing.

Clutching his throat like it was on fire, Naruto dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes. He sat panting and gasping for breath, tears flowing from his eyes quickly and freely. Eventually, he got up again when his throat stopped hurting to attempt the technique again. He was completely oblivious to the person lurking in the shadows, watching him attempt and fail the grand fireball.

It was some time before Naruto decided to call it quits, making no leeway on the technique. He continued burning his throat, and searing his lips black with soot and scalding smoke. As he rose for the final time, a voice called out to him from behind.

"Naruto-kun, what are you doing?" asked the voice, calm and devoid of emotion.

Naruto span around quickly, removed from his thoughts by the stranger. He looked the figure over, and a grin split his face. "Itachi-san!" he shouted, running forward to hug the ANBU masked figure who always guarded him when he moved around the city.

"Naruto-kun, you know not to call me by my name while I am in uniform," Itachi scolded the child, who looked down in shame. "But, I guess my mask IS a weasel, so don't worry about it."

Naruto stopped his rush and grinned, but proceeded to rush into his guardians embrace.

The figure leaned down and scooped Naruto up in his arms, spinning him around while holding him tight. Naruto laughed loudly, enjoying the hug thoroughly. Finally, the ANBU had let Naruto down, and motioned for him to sit down.

Doing as he was told, Naruto stared up at the ANBU member expectantly. Members of the Black ops weren't known to speak very much while in uniform, so when they spoke it was a good idea to listen. The weasel masked man rolled his shoulders before sitting down himself, moving his masked gaze towards the boy.

"So, Naruto-kun, can you tell me why you were… practicing that technique?" Itachi asked, "How did you even get the seals for it?"

Naruto, to his credit, had the decency to look sheepish. "Itachi-san, please don't tell anyone… people hate me enough as it is!" The blond child pleaded, his eyes filling with un-spilled tears. "I overheard a few ninja shouting the name of the technique, and I decided to see what they were doing. I watched them make these fancy hand signs, and decided to see if I could do it myself…"

If Itachi was shocked, he hid it rather well. 'This is a boy who just accessed his chakra… and even then, with no formal training and to accomplish this… that's unheard of!'

Itachi nodded his head and folded his arms over his chest, losing himself in thought for a few moments. 'If I were to train him in this… It could very well benefit the great tree.' The weasel spoke in his mind, nodding his head every few seconds.

Naruto couldn't help but wonder about what the masked man was thinking, dread quickly setting in his stomach like a lead cannon ball. 'I really hope Itachi-san doesn't tell on me, Cuz those ninja would be real angry!'

Itachi spoke up soon after he began to think, and Naruto was shaken from his own thoughts.

"I will not tell anyone, Naruto-kun, but I do have a few tips for you." Itachi began, to which Naruto smiled in response.

"YES! Thank you Itachi-sensei!" The jinchuuriki shouted, practically jumping in joy.

The masked man simply nodded his reply and waited for Naruto to calm down before further explaining himself.

"Naruto-kun, the technique you were attempting was the **Gōkakyū no Jutsu, **or the grand fireball skill," Began Itachi, "And every Uchiha shinobi must master it as their coming of age."

Naruto sat and listened attentively, as the next words to come from Itachi's mouth might very well mean becoming a better ninja.

The Uchiha prodigy spoke again, enchanting Naruto with his words. "I noticed that you didn't coat your throat with chakra nor your lips when you were practicing the technique." He motioned with his hands for Naruto to come sit next to him as he pulled a blank scroll from his kunai pouch at his waist.

"Here, I will write down a few chakra control exercises for you to practice," Itachi began, only to be cut off by Naruto.

"But Itachiiii," Naruto whined, "What are exercises going to do for me?" The boy pouted and crossed his arms across his chest.

Itachi simply shook his head and looked down, trying to gather his patience. "Naruto, these exercises will help you control your chakra better, and will help you perform these techniques much better."

Naruto nodded his head and gapped like a fish out of water, his face set in a shocked expression.

Itachi simply chuckled… well, it sounded like a muffled cough, but that's as close to a laugh Itachi had. "Well, Naruto-kun, can you show me the hand seals you performed for the technique?"

Naruto sprung to his feet and tried to do the seals as fast as he could, but was promptly stopped by Itachi who shook his head.

"Naruto-kun, you fumbled with your seals badly. Try doing it slowly for me, ne?" The Uchiha asked, standing up to get a better look at Narutos hands.

Naruto tried again, this time rather slowly and added chakra to every seal like his jiji had shown him a few days before. With a shout of the techniques name, another cloud of smoke graced Narutos lips.

Itachi shook his head and motioned for Naruto to watch his hands carefully. Itachi went through the correct hand seals slowly, and added the bare minimum of chakra to them. Lifting his mask to barely above his lips, Itachi whispered the jutsus' name and spat forth a large fireball, easily surpassing the size of the other shinobi.

Naruto stared in shock at the technique being performed up close, and whipped away the beads of sweat that formed on his brow. The intense heat of the fireball had left him panting slightly and sweating a good bit.

"Try one more time Naruto-kun, and use the **Hebi** seal instead of the **Tora** seal." Itachi said, to which Naruto nodded.

Going through the hand seals slowly, and trying to use the amount of chakra he felt Itachi use, he screamed the technique name. "**Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" **Naruto shouted, and a medium sized fireball shot forth from his mouth. The jinchuuriki would have shouted in glee had he not dropped to his knees, clutching his throat once more. Tears freely poured down his face, which was stained black yet again.

The ANBU rushed to his side and pressed his hands to the side of the Childs' throat, a green chakra erupting forth and soothing the burns that traced down the inside of the boys esophagus.

The boy smiled up at Itachi, who stared at the young boy in shock. 'Naruto-kun, how did you accomplish such a technique with no prior knowledge besides a rough grasp of the hand signs…?'

"Alright, Naruto-kun, Let's call it a day and go grab a bite to eat, ne?"

Naruto smiled up at Itachi, who nodded his head down at the child. If others had walked by this particular training field, they would have heard shouts of joy, and emotionless words being shouted at a child to calm down. All was well in Konohagakure no Sato, and they would be for quite a while.

At least, that's what the populace and the Sandaime Hokage thought.

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**Well, that's a wrap. This chapter pulled in about 2.5 thousand words, which surprised me. I know I update rather fast, but classes have been canceled for the week and I really have nothing better to be doing. Hope you enjoyed, and who knows, I may have another chapter out tomorrow.**


	4. Change in the house of the leaf

Naruto no Enton, chapter 3

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Naruto, or any means of production and income. All rights belong to Kishimoto.

I do, however, own any original idea strewn about this fan fiction.

**Authors' notes: **Well, not many people are reviewing the story, but I realized why. I kept anonymous review off, so I apologize. I'd like to ask for more reviews and maybe some input, as I've only have seven people review over all. I've noticed that most males who read this story are avidly against a male Haku. I understand your desire for a fem! Haku, so I will make her female. While there may be fluff between Itachi and Naruto, I guarantee that it is simply a teacher and student affection, maybe even one an older brother would have for a younger brother. Also, absolutely no harem, I'm sorry. I respect the female gender, and I know no woman, shinobi or not, would want to share their man. I condone cheating, as I refuse to do it myself. Too bad most girls I've dated had no problem doing it to me, haha.

**Review responses:**

xNamikazeKyuubix: **Thank you for enjoying the concept, it's not every day that I've seen Naruto using any other form of elemental manipulation besides Futon, which got extremely old. 'Okay, I'm going to cut this leaf with a bajillion kage Bunshin and become a wind master over night! 'It's rather redundant and repetitive, if you ask me.**

**That's why I've decided to start him on elemental manipulation as soon as possible, giving him an edge over the other gennin and maybe some chuunin. I've also decided, thanks to the second most recent chapter in the canon manga to give him just a FEW, as in maybe five, Bakuton jutsu, or explosion release. It's an Iwa skill, and deidara was actually part of the blast corps, which specialized in said techniques. It's going to cause a rather interesting change, or drastic change, in the whole story line. You'll see what I mean in a few chapters, trust me. **

**Also, I've got a great idea, in my opinion at least, on the Uchiha clan massacre. This is something that I don't think has ever been done before, so I hope you would like the idea.**

ScorpionKing12: **I'm still not sure if ill even give him a weapon, as I've gotten a rather unusual team for him coming up after the academy. That's the only hint I'm going to give you, but I'm sure you know what I'm talking about hahahahaha. And I'll take your words into consideration about the weapon thing, but no promises. It all depends on how the story plays out and if he truly needs one.**

Narudevilfan: **I really like the idea of using taijutsu while mixing it with his element. I was reading up on the Yondaime Raikage and his lightening armor technique, which was a form of nintaijutsu. I'm going to be doing the same thing for Naruto, but instead of lightening he will use blaze. While not familiar with the legend of legaia, but I rather like those ideas. While I may use something like that, I will not be copying anything directly. And as I said to scorpion, the pairing will be a female haku, so no worries.**

**On with the story!**

Time has passed quickly for young Naruto, who starting training avidly in chakra control like Itachi had told him. Months were dedicated to the elusive art… well; it was elusive to him in the least.

Two months into his training, Naruto had progressed nicely with the leaf sticking exercise, bringing his horrid control to low gennin level. The following month was hell, as Itachi had Naruto stick leaves to all parts of his body, from head to toe, and keep them all from falling.

For every leaf that Naruto lost control of, he had to stop, do one hundred pushups, and start over from the beginning. It was a grueling experience for the now six year old boy, but it paid off in spades. It was four months into his training that Itachi had Naruto start on the tree walking, which took Naruto even longer then the mastered leaf exercise.

Time passed slowly for the Shinobi in training, but he couldn't be happier. Itachi had gone on many missions throughout the four months of training, leaving Naruto to work alone most of the time. It didn't bother the child too much, as he wanted to make Itachi proud of him.

"I think I can get it this time!" Naruto shouted to no one in particular, rushing towards one of the many great Konoha oaks that surrounded the training grounds.

One thing that stood out about this tree was the hundreds of slash marks that adorned the bark, which trailed at least twenty feet up the tree. This was a common sight around Konoha, as many ninja used the same exercise to train in their chakra control.

No, the strangeness about this situation was the fact that a barely six year old boy had achieved such heights. Sure he had been doing it for two months, but to achieve something at such a young age was reserved for prodigies.

"Damn it!" The child screamed, grasping the back of his head in pain. He had made it a few more feet up the tree, but lost control soon after. The pain lasted for a few moments, but soon faded away.

The Kyuubi jinchuuriki removed his hands from his head and noticed they were covered in blood. Wiping his hands on his pants, he brought them back to his head, but the bleeding had stopped.

Shrugging his shoulders, Naruto stood and attempted the tree climbing exercise again and again, slowly adding slashes to the already scarred tree. It was the end of the day by now, and Itachi was due to show up to check his progress any time now.

"Naruto-kun." Greeted Itachi, who had used the **Shunshin** technique to arrive at the training ground in a swirl of smoke.

"Itachi-sensei!" shouted the blond child, running to embrace his teacher of four months, and guardian of three years.

Said ANBU member dropped down to one knee and caught the child in his arms, sharing a warm embrace with the shunned child.

"I see you've progressed nicely, Naruto-kun. Do you mind showing me just how far you can get?" The weasel asked, to which Naruto nodded.

"'Kay!" The child bellowed, rushing from his guardians' arms and towards the tree. Ten, twenty, and finally thirty feet up the tree was the height of Narutos climb, and he kept going.

Itachi stared up in both awe and admiration for the child. He was younger then Naruto was when he got the exercise, but he also started training at three years old and not five like Naruto had.

"Okay Naruto-kun, you can come back down now!" Itachi shouted with a small smirk on his un-masked face.

Itachi got worried for a minute when Naruto didn't come back down, and it was only his experience and well-honed senses that allowed him to catch the child when he came plummeting down from the top of the tree.

With a slight 'Oomph!', the child was safe in Itachis' arms, breathing heavily and scratched but otherwise fine.

"Very good, Naruto-kun," The ANBU member in his monotonous voice, "You are getting this down very well."

"Thank ya', Itachi-sensei!" The child beamed at the praise, and was promptly let to the ground. Naruto raised his arms behind his head and stretched his back, causing Itachi to chortle slightly.

"How is your progress with the **Katon** technique I left for you?" Itachi inquired, but Naruto solemnly shook his head.

"Not so well, Itachi-sensei," Naruto began, "I understand the idea of it, but I have not been able use it properly…" He finished in a dejected tone, drooping his head in shame. He was shaken from the melancholic mood when Itachi placed his hand on Narutos shoulder.

"Worry not, Naruto-kun. While it is an easy technique, it also required very fine control." The Teenaged Uchiha explained, and his only response was a sad nod from Naruto.

"I know Itachi-sensei, I know…" Naruto simply slumped his shoulders again and sprawled himself out on the ground. The Uchiha prodigy followed suit and soon they were both just talking about how their days have been since Itachi left on his mission.

"So, you and your team were sent to… **Nami no Kuni** to do what again?" the child curiously asked his teacher, leaning his head on Itachi's shoulder. Itachi simply chuckled, and brought his hand up to ruffle his students hair.

"Naruto-kun, you know I can not disclose information like that… but I suppose I can tell you the gist of the mission," Itachi started, "My squad and I were requested to hunt down bad men… Bad men who wanted to harm the great tree."

Naruto practically spat at that notion, "Harm the great tree? I hope they got what they deserve, This is MY home!"

The ANBU simply nodded his head and relaxed against the tree again, brushing his hand through Narutos hair gently. They stayed like that for a few hours before the sun had finally fallen below the sky line and Naruto had fallen asleep. After carrying Naruto home and putting him to bed, Itachi departed towards the Hokage tower.

"Hokage-sama!" Itachi greeted, appearing in the classic swirl of smoke and kneeling before his leader.

"Raise, Itachi-kun, there is no need to be so formal with me!" The Sandaime greeted, smiling down at the young prodigy.

Itachi rose at the Sandaimes' command and clasped his fist over his heart, waiting for the Sandaime to speak.

"Young Itachi-kun, how goes little Naru-chans' training?" The Sandaime inquired, to which Itachi looked shocked. "Did you honestly think I wouldn't notice my surrogate grandsons leap in skill?" The Sandaime smirked, clasping his hands together in front of him and resting his elbows on his desk.

"No, Hokage-sama, I apologize. His training is well, very well in fact." Itachi responded to his leader, trying to keep eye contact with the very same mortal who gained the name **Kami no Shinobi**.

He failed to do so.

"Good… very good." mumbled the Sandaime, who gestured for Itachi to sit in the chair across from his desk.

Activating the privacy seals in his office, the patriarch of the Sarutobi clans visage grew grim, and all humor left his eyes.

"Tell me, Itachi…. What do you think An Iwa platoon of Jounin was doing in Nami no Kuni?"

With a solemn tone, Itachi began his own breakdown of the situation, and the faces of both warriors grew more and more stoic.

"Hokage-sama… I think they are trying to finish what they started in the last **Shinobi secret war**." Itachi murmured just loud enough for the Sandaime to hear, who nodded his head in response.

"I thought as much… add that with the rumors of the Uchiha clans plans of a coup de tat…" Spoke the wizened leader, his eyes burning with a righteous fury. The frail looking man rose from his desk, and began walking towards the photograph of the Yondaime, biting his thumb as he did so.

Swiping the blood from his thumb on a nondescript spot on the wall, the portrait swung open. Behind the picture of the fourth was a safe, locked by several seals and dials.

"**Fuuin Kai**!" shouted the old man, flashing through a dozen hand seals and placing two fingers on the top seal. He repeated the process eight times, and swiped his blood across the bottom once more.

The safe swung open with barely a creak of the hinges, and Itachi was thoroughly confused as to what his leader was doing. He didn't dare voice his concern though, as anything the Sandaime did, it was with good reason.

"Itachi, come here for a moment…" The Sandaime asked, and Itachi complied immediately.

"My child, do you think we are about to go to war?" The Elderly man inquired, and Itachi couldn't help but ponder his response. With a whole platoon sighted and eliminated in Nami, and the rumors of the Uchiha revolt, Itachi was torn.

"Sir, in all honesty… it seems we are about to face war on two fronts."

The Sandaime merely nodded his head and reached into the Yondaimes' vault, removing a large scroll. Turning towards Itachi, the Sandaime spoke words that Itachi never thought he would hear.

"I want you, Uchiha Itachi, to become my successor."

The world came to a screeching halt, and Itachi was sure that all barriers he had shattered. His mouth became dry, and his mind hazy. His breathing slowed and quickened in intervals for about a minute before he bowed deeply to the Sandaime.

"Hokage-sama… I don't wish to be rude, but can you tell me why?" Itachi fumbled with his words, and a cold sweat had formed on his brow. He never even dreamed of becoming Hokage because of the large divide between the Uchiha clan and the village of the leaves.

His clan, the famous Uchiha, had run the police force and governed most civilian criminals. Fugaku, Itachi's father, was the head of the police force, and had been since he was but a child.

When Uchiha Madara was denied the position of Shodaime Hokage, he tried to rally his clan and leave Konoha, but the clan had turned their backs on him, content with the peace and their position in the village. Madara left the village, and was confronted at the **valley of the end** by the Shodaime, Senju Hashirama.

They fought for days, maybe weeks. Madara had summoned the Kyuubi to fight the Shodaime, who used his **Mokuton** jutsu to subdue the Biju. In the end, the Shodaime was victorious, and Madara laid dead at his feet. With his rival and best friend dead, Hashirama returned to the village in a funeral shroud.

The Shodaime died three days later, and his brother, Senju Tobirama, took up the mantle of Hokage. His first act of Hokage was to move the Uchiha clan further out of Konoha, into a private clan ground.

It was only two years later after the incident that the current clan head moved to claim power back to the Uchiha clan, requesting some form of governing over the village. Tobirama complied, only to avoid a rebellion amongst his ninja.

And now, the Uchiha clan was threatening to rebel again.

"Itachi-kun, I am more than sure of your battle prowess, as you were ANBU captain by thirteen," Began the Sandaime, "You're a prodigy, much like young Minato was."

Itachi was both shocked and humbled by his leaders opinion on him, but to be compared to the Yondaime?

"Sandaime-sama, not to be skeptic… but Namikaze Minato was a genius. One that is born once in a century…" Itachi mumbled, his face growing slightly pale.

"Non-sense!" shouted the Sandaime, scaring the poor Uchiha standing before him. The Sandaime started pacing around the room, pulling his pipe from the inner sleeve of his robe. He walked behind his desk and tapped a secret button twice, causing a drawer to pop out of the front.

The wizened leader reached over and retrieved his favorite tobacco from the compartment and packed the bowl of his pipe full. He replaced the dried leaves in the drawer and closed the compartment with a loud, resounding click.

A small **Katon** jutsu later and smoke permeated the air with its acrid, staining scent. Itachi breathed deeply, as while he wasn't a smoker himself, he did enjoy the scent.

"I've contacted Jiraiya; he is on his way back to Konoha with Tsunade as we speak." The Sandaime revealed leaving Itachi shell shocked.

"To bring back the Sannin… you really are preparing for war…" Itachi spoke, his eyes glancing around the room frantically. Feeling a slight chakra spike, Itachi launched a kunai towards the corner of the room, and a slump was soon heard.

A body dropped from the ceiling, and the concealment jutsu the unknown ninja was using dropped.

"Damn it Danzou!" the Sandaime roared, rearing his fist back and slamming it into his desk, easily splintering the wooden furniture. **Killing intent** rolled off of the Sarutobi, making It difficult to breath for Itachi.

"This was the final straw!" He roared once more, walking back to his ruined desk. Reaching through the ruins of the once beautiful relic, he came across a large red switch. He flipped it, and red lights started flaring throughout the room, the silence barriers coming back twice as strong.

Every shinobi that was present in Konoha gathered around the Hokage tower, waiting for the words of their leader. It was a red alert situation, a practical declaration of total lock down.

It was thirty minutes before the Sandaime appeared on his balcony, overlooking the masses of his warriors that gathered below. Itachi stood by his side, a grim visage marring his already stoic face.

The elder of the two flashed through three hand seals and began speaking, his voice easily dwarfing the din below.

"My people, I have you gathered before me to deliver grim news." Shouted the Sandaime, to which the many leaf warriors, from elite Jounin to the newly graduated gennin nodded solemnly.

"We have a traitor in our midst, who claims that he wants nothing but the betterment of Konoha," the man bellowed, "Shimura, one of my oldest friends, and a fellow student under the Nidaime has committed treason and has taken to spying on his leader!"

Gasps and roars echoed and waved from the crowd below, anger and killing intent radiating in masses.

"He has been brought into custody, and in just a few minutes time will be executed before you all!"

The gathered crowd of the strongest villages warriors all cheered, glad to finally have the war hawk from their midst's. He caused un-needed skirmishes with the minor and two major villages, and stuck his nose in other villages business against direct orders.

"I have gathered you here today in good faith, as his **Ne** soldiers will surely attempt to free him and flee from the village!" the Sandaime shouted again as the traitor was pulled from the darkness with a platoon of ANBU directly behind him.

The war hawks visage was one of apathy, and a smirk soon chiseled across his scarred face.

"You think you may have won, Sarutobi!" the man shouted. ANBU moved to silence him, but were stopped by the Sandaime.

"My shinobi will free me from these chains, and the position of Hokage will be mi-"

Danzo was cut from his rant by Sarutobi, who buried his chakra enhanced fist deep into the war mongers gut. Blood spewed from the root leader's mouth, and his sole visible eye widened in pain.

"You have spied on me, and gone against my wishes for FAR too long, Danzo!" the Kami no shinobi spat, his chakra flaring wildly for a moment. Soon, he reigned control of his power and took a deep breath.

"Yami no shinobi, the darkness of the ninja… you were both my best friend and my worst enemy," The professor spoke, his old eyes staring down at the chained and bound man, "You have been charged with high treason, spying on the village leader, and causing havoc among the nations. How do you plea?"

The man in question stared forward, knowing his time was near. He couldn't say he lived without regrets, but he could surely say he lived the life he made for himself. He voiced his own thoughts before his moment of judgment came to pass.

"You are the kami no shinobi, the professor, and the Sandaime Hokage. You and I both served in the same squad, under Tobirama-sama, and we both bled under his rule. He placed YOU as the Sandaime Hokage." The leader of Ne spoke, his words calm and his voice even.

"You have ruled this village since you were fifteen years old, since our Nidaime sacrificed his life to ensure that we lived and passed on his knowledge to the youth," Danzo mumbled only loud enough for Hiruzen to hear, a lone tear streaming from his visible eye, "He gave you the mantle of Hokage, something I've strived for since I was young, but I was given something much greater in the end."

"And what would that be?" Asked Hiruzen, his now melancholic eyes staring down at what would soon be his dead best friend.

"I was given the ability to strive in the dark, without the love and affection of this village. I've learned to survive the harshest of conditions, and have taught my young shinobi this as well. I may fall, but the roots that hold up the great tree will survive!" He shouted as his many shinobi came flooding from underground.

"Do not aid me, root!" Danzo shouted, raising his head for the crowd of Konoha and ne shinobi to see, "This is my fate… Hiruzen, promise me you will give the roots a new leader, someone who can bring forth the betterment of the great tree… promise me!"

Hiruzen nodded his head numbly, "It will be done, old friend. I wish you a peaceful passing… ANBU, execute!" the Sandaime shouted, raising his right arm towards the sky.

Many shouts of either joy, or sadness rang out from the crowd as they watched Danzos' head roll forward, the bandages falling away from his face.

Sarutobi ran through seven hand seals before letting lose the grand fireball technique, burning the body of his old friend to ashes.

It was a solemn day in Konohagakure, and change was coming quickly.

**Authors notes:**

**I know, I know. Most of my readers probably hate me, but most of the things that happen in this story happen for a reason. I'm going to HEAVILY derive from canon, as if I wanted canon, I'd read the manga. Leave a review and tell me what you think, and if you have any questions feel free to PM me.**

**Abel out.**


	5. Running from smoke

Naruto no Enton, chapter 4: Running from smoke

**Authors notes:**

**Well, my day has been terrible so far. I know most probably don't care, but ive had a very rough time at work. Ill still proceed with the chapter, as I now have all the time in the world to write.**

**I know last chapter was rushed, very rushed. But last minute ideas got tied in, with Danzo and all. I liked his character in canon, really. A misunderstood individual who wanted nothing more than the betterment of Konoha, and who atoned for his actions moments before his death. It's a cliché concept, but well executed in the story line.**

**I've had a lot of people subscribing to this story, and even adding it to favorites, but for every four subscribers I've only gotten one review. Just a few words is all I'm asking people!**

**Anyyyywayssss, I had planned on getting Naruto started on elemental manipulation last chapter, but I also had to pave the way for more things in the future. With a war with Iwa on the horizon, as well as a rumored coup from the Uchiha makes for a rather interesting story, ne?**

**Well, Naruto is for sure starting elemental manipulation this chapter and Itachi will begin in his training for the Hokage position. Jiraiya and Tsunade will arrive in the village either this chapter or the next, and I might throw in a twist or two along the way. I've got a lot of original ideas that haven't been delved into yet, so mind as well get to it while it's hot.**

**Reviews:**

**XNamikazeKyuubix: You are now my favorite reviewer! :D I'm glad I can still shock people with my ideas, but I'm not sure if it's a good shock or a bad shock. Anyways, I enjoy the idea of Itachi being Hokage, as his love for Konoha and his battle prowess easily qualify him for it. When Sandaime opened the Yondaimes vault, I guess no one caught on to what I was foreshadowing? Oh well, you will see in a few chapters I suppose. Danzo had to go to pave way for the rest of the story, and im sure everyone will be shocked as to who becomes the new leader of root.**

**DMSeth: Thank you for your kind words! My plans for both root and the war will soon come into play, so no worries. Also, I'm going to be heavily deriving from canon. While there still may be a few elements, this is going to be a completely new storyline.**

**Kronos Titan of time: I know it was a bit rushed, but im going to be slowing it down a bit for the next few chapters atleast. Thank you for your kind words!**

**On with the story!**

**0000000000000000000**

It was another cool day in Konohagakure, much cooler than it had been the previous months. Danzo had been laid to rest two months ago, which all of his previous followers showed up bearing white roses. Not many shinobi loyal to the Hokage had showed up, barring two. The ANBU agent Tenzo and Itachi showed themselves at the funeral with solemn faces and downcast eyes. While neither held exceptional love for the man, they understood sacrifice and all that came with the job of a shinobi. His memorial was short, and his headstone left unmarked, but the location was burned into their memories.

The moment after Danzos death, the cursed seals he had placed on all members of his Ne organization had broken, leaving their minds free of his control. The many root members were examined by various iiejutsu and given a clean bill of health, but with no leader.

The Sandaime became the unofficial leader for root, while keeping his position of Hokage for the time being. Whenever Itachi finally takes the mantle from him, Hiruzen has decided to become the official leader of root, keeping his promise to Danzo for finding them a capable leader.

Hiruzen had given Itachi permission to venture into the Hokage library, to amass both knowledge of the more obscure workings of Konoha as well as the techniques native to the village. Many **kinjutsu** were sealed away in the library, all forbidden for one reason or another, and Itachi was tasked with learning all the ones that were usable to him. While Itachi didn't have a thirst for power like the corrupt members of his clan, he did have a thirst for knowledge.

Naruto had begun training in fire manipulation, and his first task at hand was to burn leaves using only his chakra. The goal was to warm his chakra up and cause friction which super-heated the leaves in his hand. When the leaves finally got hot enough, they, in theory, would immediately combust.

So far, the young shinobi in training has yet to get his leaves to burst into flames and his aggravation was finally getting the better of him.

"I SWEAR IF YOU DON'T BURN YOU STUPID LEAF!" Naruto screamed, leaving his threat unfinished. After all, what could you threated a leaf with, burning it?

With a roar, Naruto forced large amounts of chakra into his hands and began swirling it chaotically, not in a fine manner like he had been attempting. Smoke rose from the leaf in his hands, and it soon began to smolder, but not burst into flames.

"Come on, come on!" The jinchuuriki shouted, letting his chakra explode from his hands.

The result was unspontaneous, as the leaf blasted away from his hand in a small ball of fire, being reduced to ashes in seconds. Naruto simply smiled and passed out promptly. Itachi watched his student from the shadows with pride before picking him up and using the Shunshin to bring him to the Hokage tower.

The elderly Hokage smiled when the two arrived in a cloud of smoke and a slight popping sound, his eyes drifting over the young jinchuuriki.

"Hokage-sama," Itachi said, getting the patriarchs attention, "I know for a fact that Naruto is aligned with fire, but I would like to do an official test… Something isn't adding up with his manipulation training."

Sarutobi nodded his head curtly, his mind racing. What could possibly be going on with Narutos elemental training? He soon voiced his concern.

"Can you tell me what you mean, Itachi-kun?"

The Uchiha prodigy nodded his head, and sat down on the couch that was resting in the corner of the Hokages office. He laid Narutos head in his lap gently and began to stroke the young childs hair, something he had grown accustomed to doing from the months he and Naruto spent training and relaxing together.

"He was finally able to cause the leaf to burn today, but that doesn't explain the fireball nor the explosive property to it." Explained Itachi, while the Sandaimes eyes widened.

"Wait, wait.. Did you just say a fireball AND explosive property?"

Itachi nodded curtly, his coal grey eyes resting upon the child with sun-kissed hair once more. He moved his hand and gently traced the whisker marks that sat upon the child's cheek. Naruto stirred slightly in his sleep, but otherwise remained unconscious.

"Yes, Hokage-sama, the force behind the explosion wasn't much, but it was enough to launch the fireball from his hand."

The Hokage nodded dumbly, his mind racing. Neither Kushina nor the Shodaimes wife showed any skill in Katon technique, so that ruled out the Kyuubi causing the influence. Minato had a strong alignment with lightening, and a slight affinity with wind, so what could explain the fire?

These thoughts roamed through the Sandaimes head before he was broken from his reverie by the awakening of Naruto. A small groan escaped the child before his bright blue eyes opened.

"Welcome back, Naruto-kun." Itachi greeted, smiling down at his young protégée. Naruto smiled up in response, his now white teeth shinning in the evening glow that entered through the window.

"Naru-Chan, how have you been?" Hiruzen asked, rising up from his desk and sauntering over to the pair.

"Jiji!" Naruto shouted, reaching his small arms up for a hug. His surrogate grandfather smiled and reached down to hug the child, his old arms easily wrapping around the childs torso.

Itachi had a warm smile on his face while he watched this display, wishing he had a grandfather who was as loving as Hiruzen.

"Naru-chan, I want you do try something for me, alright?" Inquired the Sandaime, pulling a slip of paper from the inner sleeve of his robe.

Naruto nodded his head lightly, retrieving the slip from the Sandaime.

"I want you to push a good amount of chakra into that paper for me, Naruto." Explained the Sandaime, which Naruto looked at him curiously.

"Jiji, what kind of leaf do you smoke again?" the child asked innocently, but chuckled madly in his head.

The Sandaime sputtered and blushed slightly, shaking his head at the child's rather interesting humor.

"Never mind that, Naruto. Just push the chakra into the paper!" Itachi reprimanded, a chuckle escaping his lips from Narutos implications.

The child in question did as he was told, his eyes locking onto the slip of paper with sheer concentration. An azure blue glow erupted around him with flecks of white erupting in guessers from his feet, making a pale blue aura permeate the air. The raging chakra soon calmed, and he focused a good fraction of his power into the paper.

The effect was immediate, as it split into hundreds of pieces, each burning in a different colored fire. Some were red, some orange. A good majority were either blue, or white, indicating the hotter flames.

The Sandaime and his soon to be successor stood in shock, their mouths agape and fear in their eyes. Never before had they seen anyone with such a powerful attunement to both fire and wind, two complimenting elements. While Hiruzens son, Asuma, had an affinity for both, they were paled in comparison to Narutos alignment.

"Okay, Naruto-kun!" Shouted the Sandaime over the roaring flames and wind, casting a minor suiton jutsu to put out the now cindering paper that littered the office.

Itachi flicked through two hand seals, using an E-ranked Futon technique to sweet up the ashen flakes into a single pile, and cast them from the window Hiruzen opened. Naruto was bent over holding his knees, panting as if he ran a marathon with the spandex wearing Jounin named Maito Gai.

"Naruto-kun… that was amazing!" Itachi spoke up, his voice showing awe.

The Sandaime nodded in agreement, moving to sit back down at his desk. Sitting heavily in his desk, he pulled his pipe from his robe and packed a bowl of the sweet tobacco.

"Naruto my boy, I think you're going to find your training much harsher from here on out."

**/-/**

Training, as Hiruzen had said, was grueling and demeaning. The elder Hokage had taken to training Naruto personally in his spare time, leaving Itachi to be groomed as his replacement. Theory on FuuinJutsu was drilled into the childs head, as well as calligraphy. While Naruto was proficient in the skills, he would never be the master of the elusive art like the Yondaime or Jiraiya had been.

He had taken to the second stage of fire manipulation training like a fish to water, mastering that aspect in a mere month. The results had staggered both Hiruzen and Itachi, but soon got over their shock. Of course Naruto had been able to accomplish such a feat; he has the highest affinity they had ever heard of. The second stage was to take a log soaked in water and burn it in one push. Many trees were lost in this stage, but the forests of Konoha stayed strong, if only for their fallen family.

The Sandaime had recently begun Naruto on wind manipulation on top of the fire manipulation, hoping to harvest it at his young age. He was only partially successful, as Naruto has yet to even cut a quarter of the leaf. Deciding to put it off to when he had better chakra control, Naruto requested the next stage of control training. Hiruzen complied promptly, but decided to throw in a twist. He had to accomplish the water walking while floating leaves above his hands.

The leaf floating exercise was just that, you had to use chakra to 'push' the leaf from your hand, but to also 'stick' it to a certain spot. Naruto tried, and failed. He didn't give up, and kept pushing on, hoping to impress his grandfather. Hiruzen had other thoughts, and soon imparted words of wisdom onto his young charge.

"Naruto, why must you wear the color orange?" the Sandaime asked, a curious and slightly worried gaze resting upon the blond jinchuuriki.

Naruto rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, a slightly forced grin making its way upon his whiskered face. "The shop keepers had told me it would help impress the villagers, and maybe help my training!"

Murder flashed in Hiruzens eyes, and with a quick swipe of his fist, had completely obliterated the nearest tree to him. A strong killing intent rolled off of him in waves, scaring his young charge.

"Jiji, is everything… okay?" The child inquired, worry evident for his grandfatherly figure.

Hiruzen shook his head slightly, and walked towards Naruto, his hand out stretched.

"Come, little Naruto, were going to go get you some decent clothes… and maybe some ramen."

A scream of 'YATTA!' was Narutos response, running far ahead of the Sandaime. The Sarutobi smiled sadly, knowing that soon, with the way things were going, Konoha would need a weapon, and the child would lose what little childhood he had left.

**/-/**

Dusk came quickly, as time flies of swift wings. The day had almost come to a close, but one pair had yet to finish their business. A young man wearing a bright orange jumpsuit was walking next to an elderly man wearing red and white robes, which flowed at his feet.

Nothing was too spectacular about the pair, to the blind that is. The village pariah and their very own leader stood side by side, speaking as if they were the oldest friends in the world. Both wore smiles and enjoyed each other's company, but there was a certain depth to it.

Something was amiss in the elderly man's gait, and you would have to be a trained shinobi to see it. The man was barely reeling in his anger, his muscles, hidden by the robes, coiling like a spring. The humor written on his face was lost to his eyes, and the boy next to him was none the wiser.

The wandering pair had finally come across one of their two destinations, Ichiraku Ramen, a small establishment based by the eastern wall of the mighty village hidden in the leaves. With a parting of the curtains, the two were seated at the small bar.

"Order up, Ayame!" A voice shouted from the back, followed by a yelp and a loud crash. To the untrained ear, one might have mistaken the sound for a pot hitting the floor, but Hiruzen knew better. The man in the back was just, brutally might he add, smashed over the head with a large, metal kitchen utensil.

A young waitress made her way to the counter, and soon swallowed her tongue. She fumbled over her words for a few moments, making the Sandaime laugh gently.

"Hello, young Ayame, doing well I hope?" The Hokage greeted with no small amount of humor in his voice.

The girl mutely nodded and pulled her notepad from her apron, waiting for their orders. She wouldn't say anything, not trusting her voice in the presence of the living legend sitting in her fine establishment.

"Naruto-Kun, what would you like to eat?" the Sandaime asked the young boy, who had shrunken away from the girl and tried to hide behind his grandfather.

Peaking his head from around the Sandaimes robes, Naruto was greeted with the smiling face of both Ayame and Hiruzen, no hostility in the air.

"Uhm… just a large bowl of… miso ramen." The young jinchuuriki finally said, looking over the rather limited menu.

Ayame nodded, smiling at the small whiskered boy in front of her. He was rather cute, and couldn't be older than six years old. She hadn't seen him around the village, but she heard the whispers.

'How on Gaia do they expect this child to be… the Kyuubi?' she wondered to herself, writing down the Sandaimes order and returning to the back.

The meal was quick, and the two were soon on their way towards the shopping district. The anger returned to Hiruzens eyes, but it remained controlled, just boiling below the surface.

They passed a small wooden shack, and Naruto stopped in his tracks. Looking around, his face was wrought with confusion. Noticing that Naruto stopped, Hiruzen turned to face him.

"Is something the matter, Naruto-kun?" The hokage asked, a flicker of hope reaching his eyes.

"Jiji, I get the feeling something is off about this place, and I can sense a… layer of chakra around the door." Naruto admitted, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

The Sandaime by now had stopped being shocked by Narutos accomplishments, growing used to the fact that the child was an anomaly.

"Naruto-kun, follow me." The wizened leader spoke, turning on his heels and rapping against the wooden door of the shack twice, followed by strange hand movements.

The door parted way, and the Sandaime stepped in followed closely by his young charge. The inside was highly modern, and a pristine white color. Weapons lined the wall, each both refurbished and brought back to master condition, or new from the forge. Small racks of clothing lined the front of the store, each bearing different styles of clothes. The sterile smell of bleach assaulted Narutos nose, laying siege to his third most prominent sense. His eyes stung from the surrounding white, and he was immediately reminded of the torture chamber that goes by the name 'Hospital'.

The Sandaime walked towards the counter, his anger forgotten. The ANBU who ran the shop bowed low to the Hokage in respect, his white robes ruffling gently from the movement.

"Rise, Tora. We have much to discuss." The Sandaime murmured, gesturing towards the bewildered child who had wandered over to the clothing racks.

The Tora masked ANBU operative nodded curtly, and strode from around the counter of the shop quickly. The masked figure and the Sandaime soon began to speak in hushed tones, leaving Naruto to his own devises momentarily.

"Hokage-Sama, you mean to tell me he detected the Genjutsu surrounding the shop?" Tora asked, his masked gaze settling upon the boy who wandered his shop.

"Yes, Tora-san, he stopped and started looking around, having sensed the illusion around your shop. I know this is for ANBU operatives only, but I would like to request you let the boy shop here… the villagers don't treat him fairly," Began Hiruzen, "They sell him the worst produce, and even worse clothing. He is both malnourished and underdressed for a shinobi in training. I would like to fix this blatant sabotage immediately."

The ANBU nodded his head numbly, having respected the child for the sacrifice he makes every day, even if it is unknowingly. He was a Jounin during the Kyuubi attack, and was a budding FuuinJutsu master at the time. He understood the concept of a sealed kunai, as would any higher ranking Nin.

"I would be honored if he shopped here, Hokage-sama, the boy is the hero of Konoha just as much as the Yondaime."

Hiruzen nodded his head gently and released a breath he didn't realize he was holding. His eyes held respect for the ANBU before him, as he had finally found where Naruto could fit in.

"Naruto-kun, let's get you suited up in something deserving of a young shinobi, ne?"

**/-/**

The duo left the stop after two hours, a smile on both of their faces. The elder was still dressed in his red and white robes, but the younger was no longer in the orange.

A blank Hitai-ate rested on Narutos head, the cloth black in color and unrolled into a bandanna style, covering his blond hair from view. The metal plate was reinforced with carbon steel with a titanium lining, making for maximum protection against a thrown kunai or shuriken. The cloth was woven with thin strings of steel, which were doused in the great Konoha burning sap, making the bandana fire resistant and slightly more durable then a Konoha issued Hitai-ate.

A sleeveless mesh shirt rested upon the child's torso, black in color. The weaving was made of ninja wire treated with a thin layer of cotton, reducing the overall discomfort of the attire, while leaving the maximum protectiveness unburdened. An ANBU style chest plate rested over the shirt, ebony black in color. Reinforcement seals were carved over the heart, and a thick metal plate under even that.

A pair of woodland camouflage pants rested on Narutos hips, held up by a thick and wide tactical belt, black in color. Many pockets lined the inside and outside of the pants, each cleverly hidden by a small flap of black dyed cloth. Seals lined the waistband of the pants, letting the clothes grow as Naruto grows. Armor was hidden at both the knee caps and the hips, for resistance against crippling blows and kunai strikes.

His ninja sandals were replaced with calf high black combat boots, eyelets across the bottom for breathing capability. Two buckles ran down the laces of the boots, ensuring that even if the leather laces broke that the boots would stay on Narutos feet. A metal plate was present on the bottom of the leather boots, so that nothing could pierce through the bottom of the footwear. Narutos camo pants were carefully bloused above the top of the eleven inch boots, giving the illusion that they were tucked into the top neatly.

Training seals for resistance and weight were placed onto small leather bands that were now strapped to Narutos upper arms, wrists, thighs and ankles. The seals were designed by the Yondaime to train his body to handle the strain of the **hiraishin **technique which won Konoha the third secret shinobi war. The seals were thus mass produced and refitted to increase the gravitational resistance on the body, making it seem as if you were walking through water. While it didn't really increase the gravity around you, it does give the body the illusion that it has.

Over all, instead of looking as if the sun was walking down the street, Naruto looked as if he was going to war. The Sandaime was proud of Naruto for picking the attire himself, who had a thorough understanding of resilient clothes.

The duo approached Narutos abode, and with a hug and wave goodnight, the Sandaime was alone again. Naruto laid his head to rest for the night, and immediately drifted into sweet unconsciousness.

Slipping into the Shunshin technique, Hiruzen appeared in the Hokages office with little more than a slight chakra fluctuation. Itachi was sitting at the replacement desk, going through a rather large stack of paperwork. Though Itachi was a pacifist, and preferred written work over battle, he couldn't help but rip the hair from his scalp in annoyance from the paper work.

"Damn you, Hiruzen!" the teen yelled, a crazed look in his coal black eyes.

The Sandaime laughed heartily, before switching into a poker face. "Have you heard from either Jiraiya or Tsunade?"

Itachi shook his head in the affirmative, pulling a scroll from his own black and red robes and tossing, it to the Sandaime. While the traditional Hokage robes were white and red, Itachi was given a pair of honorary robes to wear while he was in the office, the robes of the Shodaime Hoken, the first fire blade.

The color scheme was the only difference in the robes, as both held the same emblems and such. Itachi was given the Hoken tri-tipped hat to accompany the robes, showing him as the Hokage in training.

"Itachi- kun, we have much to discuss."


	6. Into the flames

Naruto no Enton, chapter 5: Leaping into the flames

**Authors notes:**

**Yo, Abel here. Well, I got a doctor's appointment today; I think I got bronchitis yet again. Eh, oh well. I really enjoy the reviews I've gotten, many of them give me strive to write this chapter. The action is going to be picking up soon, no worries.**

**Naruto will be a front line fighter in the war, as will Itachi, regardless of him being Hokage. The troops will need to see their leader fighting amongst them for the moral boost, in my honest opinion.**

**Another note is that things will be picking up with chapter with mentions of border skirmishes. Jiraiya will be making an appearance this chapter, as will Tsunade. Tsunade will be one of Itachis advisors, while a surprising figure will be the other.**

**Another note, the war council will be called upon, and plans will be made for the conflict. Itachi will be introduced as the Hokage either this chapter or next chapter.**

**/-/**

**Review responses:**

**InARealPickle: I only have one thing to say. Longest review ever, and it points out many things.**

**In the manga, Itachi was seventeen to eighteen during the NARUTO arc, but in shippuden he was twenty one. In this story, he is fifteen right now, sorry for not clarifying that. That was a large mistake on my part, thank you for bringing it to my attention.**

**Second, Thank you for liking how I portray Hiruzen. It never made sense for him to not want Naruto to be a weapon for the village, regardless of the Yondaimes dying wish. While he would never have turned him into an emotionless killing machine, im sure Naruto would have turned out as powerful as Itachi, if not stronger.**

**Third, I love ANBU as well! As you can probably tell by my story haha.**

**Fourth, while I try not to dress him up like hes a doll, I do tend to get descriptive with his outfit, huh? Thank you for liking the way he dresses, it took me quite a while to think of how to have him look.**

**Fifth,** **while I know no child should be shopping at an ANBU exclusive store, the SANDAIME was with him, and even requested for the ANBU running the shop to allow him to shop there. The anbu serve only the hokage, so if their leader asks them to do something, it would be in their best interest to do it, lest they get into a shit ton of trouble. Insubordination and all, ne?**

**I understand why your skeptical over why they would have clothes in Narutos size, but think about it. They have the ability to spit forth fire dragons from their mouth and walk on water. There was a two hour span spent in the shop, giving just time to use a technique needed to resize clothes and boots to fit Naruto, or craft new ones all together.**

**Lastly, ANBU shinobi are drafted into the corps from any rank, as them making the cut all depends on their skill. Age, gender, background, or previous rank bear no weight in this decision, so a gennin could very well be drafted straight to ANBU, as unlikely as it seems. While they may be the elite in skill, some may have been gennin at the time of the Kyuubi attack, and recently promoted to the ANBU. The ANBU at the store was a Jounin at the time who dabbled in fuuinjutsu, so HE understood the sealed kunai concept, but I guess I worded it wrong.**

**I understand what you mean about Naruto beings spotted by civilians when he leaves or enters his home. I didn't make it clear that he lived in a rather secluded area of town :/ my bad.**

**Thank you very much for your review, and I hope you enjoy this new chapter.**

**Tristan76: I agree with you on the likeness of the Shodaime/Madara to Hiruzen/Danzo. I would like to point out at this point that all it really took was a large amount of troops, and the YONDAIME to win the third war with Iwa. The Uchiha clan isn't needed at this point, but they will live, rest assured. I have a special plan for them.**

**xNamikazeKyuubix: Don't forget I'm deriving heavily from canon! And yeah, Hiruzen will be taking over the position of root, and while he won't be as bad as Danzo, there will be a dark side to him. He may be the Kami no Shinobi, but he is not infallible. He will have to make decisions, in the dark might I add, that are for the greater good of Konoha. Rest assured, he will still be the loving figure he is in the anime/manga, but a bit more… cynical? **

**Yami Kurushimi: I'm sorry Naruto won't become a seal master, but I've seen it done so many times that it's become a rather dull concept. He will dabble in seals, but he will not become a master. Hell, there is a lot that he won't be getting that most give him. You'll understand what I mean soon. He WILL, however, be getting something that will boost his power, and reputation formidably. **

**Authors notes were short, reviews were short; time to get started on the story.**

**/-/**

Time hasn't passed as gracefully as the village hidden in the leaves would have liked. The war with Iwa was becoming public knowledge. Many shinobi were being deployed to the borders of Hi no Kuni, along with the satellite nations of Kusa and Nami. Encrypted messages from both Suna and Hoshi were being received by the hour, and the Cryptography corps. that was run by Nara Shikaku were pulling graveyard shifts.

The civilian population of Konoha was in an uproar, calling for the blood of the 'Stone Bastards' as they kindly put it. This put Itachi, Hiruzen and the war council in a rather awkward position. That brings us to today's events, the first meeting of the war council and the Shinobi high council, separate entities that helped govern the village, and the battle front.

Hyuuga Hiashi, the second in command for the war council, had called a meeting the night before at midnight, which carried through eight hours.

"Hokage-sama, you mean to tell me that your appointing ITACHI as the Godaime?" were the first words from the Hyuugas mouth, skepticism showing in his pale white eyes.

The Hyuuga clan was infamous for their Doujutsu and their Taijutsu, The Byakugan and the Jūken respectively. Their Kekkai Genkai, the Byakugan, was something of legend and it showed in how the clan utilized it. The blank white eyes of the clan were among the genetic traits of the Hyuuga clan, as well as near perfect chakra control.

The eyes themselves allowed the users of the famed Doujutsu near perfect 360 degree vision; the only exception is the blind spot at the back of the neck, above the third thoracic vertebra.

The second ability is the ability to see through solid objects, and the ability to use a degree of telescopic sight. The distance and the degree of telescopic sight vary from one Hyuuga to the next.

The third and final ability is the chakra sight, allowing any user of the Doujutsu to see the chakra pathways and tenketsu of their opponent. This is where their taijutsu style, Jūken comes into play.

With a light, chakra enhanced touch, the Hyuuga have the ability to send their own chakra into an opponent's pathways, sealing off both the tenketsu in that area, and their chakra pathways. The Hyuuga clan was one of the most feared clans in existence, and their taijutsu was claimed as the strongest style in Konoha, along with the Gōken, the strong fist.

The Sandaime merely pinched the bridge of his nose in response to Hiashi, feeling both a headache and backache coming on. Being old sucked sometimes.

"For the last time, Hiashi, he is to be my replacement. As the Hokage, I have the right to appoint anyone of my choosing to be my replacement, not the council." The Hokage chastised, to which Hiashi scowled.

"Be as that may, the council was not called to debate your choice of replacement, but the situation with Iwa." Shikaku spoke up, his lazy drawl cutting through the tension of the room. Many heads snapped in his direction, which caused the scarred Jounin to sigh, murmuring a quick 'Troublesome' under his breath.

"Itachi-san is the perfect replacement for Sandaime-sama, and he has proved this to us through his eight year career." Spoke the lazy clan leader, his eyes drifting into the gaze of every member present, stopping on Uchiha Fugaku.

"Your boy here is a prodigy, Fugaku, but you know as much. He was an incredible love for Konoha, and his battle prowess is top notch," Started Shikaku, "We need a young leader, but we also need a powerful leader. Itachi fits both bills, regardless of his clan status."

Fugaku nodded curtly, a smile on his traitorous face. His plans for a coup were un-needed it seems, Itachi proving himself both to his village and his clan. One thing that bothered him was the disappearance of Shisui, a leader amongst the rebellious clan members. He wasn't weak by any right, just below Itachi in terms of skill, but equal in experience.

Little did he know, that Shisui was now resting at the bottom of the Nakano River, with help of Itachi that is. It was a necessary evil, one that Itachi regretted deeply, but the village came first. Shisui had attempted to rally the clan weeks, almost a month before planned, but Itachi quelled that.

Itachi was granted the mangekyou sharingan as tribute to his sacrifice, a cursed eye limit. It was forbidden amongst the clan, as it drove the user to both madness and blindness. The manuscript that gave instructions for getting the limit was sealed beneath the Uchiha council chambers, below the third tatami mat.

Uchiha Madara was the last wielder of the mangekyou, as well as his brother Izuna. Izuna later gave his eyes to Madara willingly, claiming that it was for the greater good of the clan and fought to the death, even blinded by the removal of his eyes.

"Im very proud of my son, Shikaku, he has made his clan and his village very proud." Fugaku admitted, bowing his head slightly.

Soon after Shisui died, Fugakus' mind was cleared of his rage. It was rather odd, but Fugaku simply brushed it off. The Uchiha leader had no idea that Shisui's eyes had the ability to control minds, nor did any Uchiha other than Itachi. It seems as that little fact would go to the death with Itachi as it had with Shisui.

No one, other than Itachi, was aware that Shisui's eyes had been harvested, and would later replace Itachis own eyes. While they weren't brothers as Izuna and Madara had been, they were very close cousins, and Itachi hoped it would never take him replacing his own eyes.

"Hokage-sama, if I may… what did Jiraiya and Tsunade say in their scroll?" Spoke Akimichi Chouza, the leader of the Akimichi clan.

"Jiraiya has multiple agents in Iwa gathering whatever intel they can, but that this point its nil," the sandaime spoke over the murmuring voices, "He and Tsunade should be arriving-"

"THE GALLANT JIRAIYA IS HEEEEEEEERE!"

"As we speak." Finished the Sandaime, a smirk moving across his old face. The two students of him had arrived earlier that day and reported directly to him, understanding the severity of the situation. He explained to them his choice of Itachi as his replacement, and Tsunade had agreed to become one of his advisors as Koharu and Homura were for Hiruzen.

While they weren't team-mates, the two of the three loyal Densetsu no Sannin were far more experienced. Hiruzen was still looking for Itachis other advisor, but swore that all it would take is a little time to find him.

Tsunade had appeared in the council room the old fashioned, through the door. Jiraiya, with his rather eccentric personality, appeared in a summoning circle standing atop of a rather large toad. The council face palmed at the man's goofy dance, while Tsunade nailed him on the head with one of her overly powerful punches, thus grounding the man quite literally.

With the entrance now over with, the meeting started back up where they left off. "Chouza, I think I'd like Jiraiya tell the council what he knows of the situation, rather than me."

The self-proclaimed super pervert took the floor, his once goofy persona now long gone, replaced by a war veteran, and a sage. "The situation is FAR worse than we thought. They plan to wage a full scale war with us within two years, and are amassing military might along with their allies in Kumo."

The entire war council paled, a nervous chuckle escaping a few of the lesser known clan heads. Hiashi remained impassive, but if they looked close enough, they would see the fear in the normally stoic man's eyes. Fugaku, Chouza and Inoichi shook their heads solemnly, already knowing that many members of their clans would lose their lives. The Nara clan leader simply closed his eyes and tilted his head downward, his thoughts on how to avert, or at least delay the inevitable.

"Hokage-sama… I have a plan, and I think it needs to be implemented immediately."

**/-/**

Shikaku's plan was both cost effective and genius. The academy was to be completely revamped, removing the bookwork completely. Instead of history class, they held jutsu theory and application. The first half of the day was dedicated to Genjutsu, as well as iiejutsu and kunaijutsu. All female students were required to be an official medical ninja by the end of the academy, and all men to be proficient enough to patch minor wounds and broken bones. This class was taught be Tsunade, who had taken over the Konoha general hospital when she returned. Chakra control was drilled daily for three hours, and was worked to perfection, following that was cardio and physical education.

Lunch was one hour long, and the students were held in a cafeteria instead of being allowed to roam the village.

The second half of the day was dedicated to perfecting and learning new jutsu, ranging from Katon to suiton techniques. Chakra nature was tested following the entry to the academy, and training for the children's nature was drilled for four hours, taught by Hatake Kakashi. Stamina and stealth classes were compounded, and the students now ran the D ranked missions instead of the gennin.

All nin ranked lower than Jounin had been made to take the remedial courses, fine tuning the military force of Konoha. The academy was cut from a four year stay into a two year flush out. Six days of the week were required now, and fourteen hour days had greeted the children. Civilians had complained for weeks before the severity of the situation was made public knowledge, As a squadron of Kumo shinobi were spotted and eliminated in Kusa.

The rebellion leader of Kiri had come to Hiruzen and Itachi three months after the public announcement of the academy reform, requesting help with their own civil war. They bore the promise of an alliance with the hidden leaf village against Kumo and Iwa, as well as rations and a rather large sum of the money they make for ten years.

The Sandaime and soon to be Godaime answered yes unanimously, sealing the deal. The current ANBU leader, Tenzo, would lead a large covenant of Ne shinobi temporarily, and win the war against the tyrant kage Yagura. It would take a good eight months to accomplish, but it would be done. Rations would be given to the rebellion, as well as a large portion of weaponry.

War was on the horizon, and Konoha would be prepared. It wouldn't due to lose a war now, they had a perfect streak going.

**/-/ **

"Again, Naruto!" shouted Itachi, who was sitting atop of a nondescript rock overlooking the training grounds. The child was tasked with the third and final step in mastering his fire manipulation, Kunai melting.

The child would be given a single kunai, and was tasked with melting the metal construct to slag using only his chakra. This task was far easier said than done, but Naruto was making strong progress. The jinchuuriki had his own training boosted from grueling, to straight torturous.

His day begins now at four A.M. with a ration bar and a quick shower. He began jogging in the morning with Itachi, who wore his own high leveled resistance seals, each trying to train their body to perfection for different reasons. Itachi now trained in the Hokage field, located deep below the ANBU headquarters. While he trained in secrecy, Naruto trained in public, having become a beacon for the academy students and the gennin.

Itachi was announced as the Godaime Hokage two months after the council meeting, and a drastic change in Konoha had followed. While the village itself, and all the people were the same, how the village was run was not.

No longer did the Hokage deal with the ridiculous amounts of paper work, that task was left to his two advisors. The only paperwork that was required of the Hokage were mission reports and mission requests, which were taken care of quickly.

Hiruzen had taken over root the moment Itachi took mantle and had begun training the root shinobi vigorously. He was harsh, much harsher than Danzo had been. Danzo was okay with mediocre shinobi in masses, Hiruzen was okay with powerful shinobi in abundance. The weak were made strong. The strong were made powerful. The powerful were made into monsters, and the monsters into gods.

The general troops under Itachis order were given experience where it was needed, techniques where they were lacking, and devotion and a sense of pride when they were broken. The people of Konoha grew to love and respect their new leader much like they had loved the Yondaime, and the Uchiha clan had risen to new glorified status.

Naruto was now seven years old, having reached five foot tall just a few months before. His physical growth was astounding, and it was assumed he would be a juggernaut by the time he was fifteen. While he was a tender age, he wasn't a tender person. Far from it, as a matter of fact. He had picked up Itachis cold tone of speaking, Hiruzens mind, and an aggressiveness only seen in the Inuzuka clan.

The war garbed child had attained Jounin level chakra control, and was now working on vertical kunai balancing while floating leaves from the soles of his feet. It was an ANBU level chakra control exercise, which Itachi estimated it would take him another two years to five years to gain that level of chakra control.

Fire techniques were incorporated into the young warrior's training regiment, and while progress was good, it was far from perfect. Naruto learned better by doing, rather than hearing, but it didn't change the fact that Naruto was just that, a child. Stealth was forgone, as Naruto was to be a front line fighter, rather than an assassin.

Maito Gai had been called in to teach Naruto taijutsu along with Gai's student Rock Lee. The training was grueling and far past sane, but the young jinchuuriki prevailed gracefully. Having forgone the ANBU vest in place of a large metal breast plate much like the Shodaime wore, the child was becoming more and more suited for war day by day.

"Okay, Itachi-sensei… one more time!" Naruto shouted above the roaring chakra, which was now stained a baleful carmine color. At first, Itachi was scared the Kyuubi was breaking free. The secret mangekyou sharingan wielder voiced his concern with Hiruzen, who in turn had Jiraiya check the seal while the boy was sleeping.

The seal was in perfect condition, and the monster it held was still in peaceful, eternal slumber. Nothing would wake the beast again, as half of its soul was ripped to shreds and consumed by the death god, the Shinigami, along with the soul of Namikaze Minato. All that was left of the monster was the chakra construct that was sealed deep, and permanently inside of the young blond jinchuuriki.

With an explosion of the crimson chakra from the palm of his hand, Naruto attempted to melt the steel knife buried nose deep into a tree. So far, he could melt from the circular base to half way up the blade, but nothing more. This attempt proved futile as well, and his chakra was finally depleted.

At the instruction of Itachi, they called it a night, and would begin again in the morning, as well as training his current jutsu skills until he mastered them. The boy was escorted home, where ANBU agents were already waiting to watch over him.

It wouldn't do for Iwa to attempt to assassinate their secret weapon, regardless of the fact that they didn't even keep him hidden. That wouldn't do at all. Spies were being discovered left and right, all attempting to enter the village at random points during the day. The barrier squad was working around the clock to spot intruders in the village, working side by side with Ne shinobi to keep the threats neutralized.

The village hidden in the leaves was prepared for any threat that could be thrown their way.

Nothing could prepare them for what happened next.


	7. At the gates

Naruto no Enton, Chapter 6: At the gates]

**Authors notes: Wowww, ive gotten great reviews with this last chapter, which I released yesterday. Thank you all for your concern with my health, and I hope that I will be back on my feet again here soon. I woke up this morning far worse than yesterday, but it will be gone soon, im hoping.**

**Yet again, lots of good reviews! I like it! Haha, well, responses**

**Review responses:**

**deltabeta26: Naruto is around seven, about to be eight in the fic right now, I've mentioned his age every chapter I think. Maito Gai took lee as his student way before team Gai was formed; it was mentioned during the chuunin exams arc I believe.**

**As to why Naruto is wearing armor… if you were training a student who would lead to the victory in the war your about to wage, wouldn't you want him to be accustomed to training, and fighting in armor before he gets to the field? And also, it's a precaution, just in case someone decides to take a pot shot at him while Itachi or Hiruzen isn't around, regardless of the fact that the chances of that are none.**

**It's just realism, you don't give someone armor just before you send them to fight your battles, you want them to be able to maneuver and fight in it.**

**xNamikazeKyuubix: I like the idea of the revamped academy, as the shinobi Konoha was producing was quite frankly… effin pathetic. Save Gai's team, the rookie nine sucked, except sasuke. He was rather good, but only because of his drive to annihilate his brother from the earth.**

**He will have a different form of drive in this fic, trust me. A lot of new characters are going to be strewn about in this chapter, and the teams will be formed. (Got a surprise with that one.)**

**DMSeth: I aim to please :D**

**InARealPickle: I'm glad I can add the suspense just when I need it :D no worries, you'll find out soon enough :D**

**Side note, I'm hoping to reach 20k words soon. A lot of amazing fics don't get really good until this mark, so I'm hoping that I can pull in big fish with this one.**

**/-/**

Screams of terror rang through the night, and blood ran freely in the streets. Various Jutsu names were bellowed, a spewed forth in numbers untraceable. The eyes of the dying and the dead looked on in terror, watching their comrades' struggle with their earth-bound enemies. Cast away in a sea of pain, many shinobi lost their lives quickly, some left to suffer in the streets.

The civilians were amongst the casualties of the preemptive strike lead against Konoha, and while many escaped with their lives, another many didn't. The stench of sulfur and brimstone filled the night air, and the crispness of the air was replaced with a powerful burning humidity. Fog and smoke covered portions of the city, the buildings either pristine or in shambles, as there was no middle ground in this large scale battle.

"**Katon: Saikō shōmetsu!"** Was heard over the screams and roars, and soon, the invading forces knew pain. A massive fireball, easily the size of one of Konohas major gates roared across the humid night sky, originating from the top of the Hokage tower. A loud cheer was heard from the remaining Konoha forces, and the battle was renewed with a new, righteous fury.

'Block, break the guard, parry the blow, and return the force.' Was the mantra racing through Narutos mind as he fought back a trio of enemy chuunin that had gotten too close to the residential district. The young jinchuuriki ducked under one of the chuunins' katanas and delivered a powerful back fist to the enemies solar plexus, caving in the chuunins chest cavity.

With but a twist of his body, Naruto had slit the now mauled chuunins throat and dashed towards the next, replacing the kunai in his pouch and running through eight hand seals.

"**Katon: Gurēto enmaku!"**

A massive amount of smoke erupted from the blond's mouth, covering the area with an extremely warm smoke. Sweat began to pour from the enemy shinobi, and their eyes stung with the acrid smoke. Visibility was now dropped to zero, and fear began to radiate from the invading chuunin. The rebreather upon the chuunins face was made for water, not smoke, and his breathing grew ragged.

A swipe of a kunai was all it took, and now there was only one chuunin left standing. Urine dripped down the females leg, and fear was radiating in waves. No sounds were made; absolute silence was all that graced the immediate area. The occasional scream broke the silence, but it always reformed stronger than ever.

"You're out of your league here, little Ame girl, and far away from home." A cold voice spoke from the fog, and a dark figure moved to end her life.

Kunai clashed against kunai, and chakra was thrown from both parties. A quick kawarimi with surrounding rubble saved Naruto from being at the receiving end or a suiton technique, who countered with a technique of his own.

"**Katon: Suraisu-en."** The name was murmured, and the handseals were concealed by the smoke.

A thin stream of concentrated fire shot forth from Narutos mouth, racing towards the female Ame nin at break neck speeds. Contact was made, and even though it was brief, that one second was all the technique called for. Fire as sharp as razor wire ripped through the chuunins ribcage, cauterizing the entrance point and liquefying her organs instantly.

She was dead and mummified before she knew what hit her, as all moisture in her body was dried up in a split second. The body hit the ground in a light thump, and Naruto continued on his trek. The jinchuuriki breathed deeply and casted a minor futon technique, dispelling the smoke from the area as he continued walking, and the hidden civilians lived to see, and breath, another day. The blond removed his resistance seals and sped off towards the main gates of Konoha, thoughts of murder racing through his mind.

'How dare they kick down my door and invade my home… They didn't even send a house warming present.'

**/-/**

"**Hijutsu: Rīpingu hakai!" **The technique, reaping destruction, was one of the few hidden techniques of the leaf village, and the results of said technique explained why.

A large storm appeared on the horizon, black clouds swarming around the now distinct carmine colored skies. Wind had picked up drastically, and the ominous figure of the kami no shinobi stood high on the gates of the village. His root shinobi stood close by him, using their own elemental skills to further the destruction of the invading force.

Iwa, Kumo and Ame had sent a joint force under the control of Han, the five tail jinchuuriki, hoping to level Konoha. The pre-emptive strike of the joint forces had taken a good portion of the village out before the shinobi sprung to action, pushing the enemies back pace by pace. The jinchuuriki has been missing for ten minutes now, and Hiruzen was getting worried. Itachi was on his way to the front lines now, his secret weapon now complete.

Hiruzen was baffled as to how they even got into Hi no Kuni without Konoha or the Daimyo knowing it, but that was a thought for another time. Right now, his mission was to buy the Hokage time to get here, and eliminate whatever threat was present to Konoha. A smile crossed his wrinkled face, an old smile that has stricken fear into the hearts of his enemies for years.

"GO!" The root leader shouted, holding his right arm out towards the enemy forced.

Elemental techniques were fired off all at once, and a maelstrom of destruction rocked the land, leaving carnage in its wake. A large vortex of concentrated wind descended from the skies, consuming the joint force shinobi as a whole, ripping limb from body. Blood stained the acrid air, and a red haze tinted the many shinobi littered across the battle field.

Hiruzen charged into the enemy forced, having summoned Enma who had transformed into his adamantine Bo staff. Bodies were crushed under the might of the professor, and the opposing force was quickly losing morale.

Well, they were losing morale until their legion leader, Han, had shown himself again on the battle field. Orange chakra swirled around the massive man, his distinct red armor now glowing in the baleful light. Smoke began to rise from the smoke stack on his back at an alarming rate, and steam began to flow from under his feet. Hiruzen stared at the terror before him, and for the first time in years, he smirked.

"So… you are my opponent today, Han no Gobi?" The professor proclaimed from across the battlefield, his voice easily overpowering the torrential rain that now poured from the heavens. Hiruzen had been in complete control of the weather thanks to his Rīpingu hakai technique, and would continue to be until the chakra he threw into the jutsu ran out. The Kami no Shinobi figured he had maybe ten minutes until that happened. Ten minutes to stall this raging demon of a man.

"Let's do this."

**/-/**

Itachi was racing through the village as fast as he could, stopping only to help out friendly troops who were fighting off more than they could handle. He had activated the sharingan the moment he heard the first explosion at the gates, racing to the balcony of the Hokage tower to see what the commotion was. He was greeted to the sights of enemies of the village flooding through his gates, HIS gates. Itachi saw red, and it wasn't because of the sharingan.

He threw the windows of the tower open and ran through a set of fifty handseals in less than four seconds, letting loose his **Supreme Annihilation **technique, reducing the enemies troops by a good couple of dozen. He removed the Hokage robed to reveal himself garbed in ANBU armor, ebony black in color. He dashed through five different seals and tapped three locations throughout the office, sealing it off to all but him. He left the room soon after, activating another barrier seal to remove any threat of an enemy entering the most sacred room of Konoha.

Itachi leaped from the building soon after, an ANBU style resting upon his face and a new cloak on his shoulder. The battles raged on, and Itachi saved whichever one of his soldiers needed saving. He destroyed whichever enemy needed destroying. He moved on gracefully, never letting a drop of blood touch his mask.

It took the span of ten minutes for him to reach the main gate. Ten minutes of slaying enemy back to back, and saving comrades. Ten minutes to watch many of his brothers and sisters die. Ten minutes was all it took for his blood to boil, his mangekyou sharingan activating unknowingly. Someone was going to die a very painful death; that Itachi was sure of.

The sight that met him at the main gates was the material needed for a nightmare, with enemies ripped to shreds at his feet. Konoha shinobi stood close by, their eyes wandering the field with both awe and disgust. The enemy had been pushed back by Sarutobis' Ne shinobi, but the few that got away were destroyed immediately by the reaping destruction technique.

For a battle of this magnitude to be waged in ten minutes… the shinobi under Hiruzens control were much stronger than Itachi had accounted for. The young Hokages eyes immediately snapped to the center of attention, where a battle of epic proportions was being waged. A jinchuuriki versus a now retired Hokage. The epitome of FuuinJutsu versus the master of all techniques.

Itachi watched as Sarutobi was slammed into a tree, breaking through the said wooden structure like a toothpick. The elderly man rose to his feet quickly, spitting blood from his mouth to the already blood soaked ground. His black armor was dented in many places, and the cloth under that was torn to shreds.

Itachi leaped into action when the first opportunity arose, dropping into a low leg sweep. The larger, armored man jumped over the sweep easily, only to be intercepted by Sarutobi who now had a better grip on Enma in staff form.

The armored man took the heavy blow and was flung back, slamming heavily into a tree much as Sarutobi had just moments before. A deep cough erupted from the man, who gasped when Itachi drove his chakra covered fist deep into the mans' chest. Han flew through the tree behind him as if it wasn't even there, and knew that the time for acting is now. He hadn't counted on facing two kage level shinobi, and knew that unless he went into his jinchuuriki state, he might not get away alive.

'Gobi, I need all the chakra you can give.' Roared han towards the biju sealed into his body, to which the demon complied immediately.

The man dropped to all fours as the chakra from his demon surrounded him, stream now blasting from the ground beneath him. Three tails erupted from the chakra cloak, causing the two kage level shinobi to jump back a good distance. Both Konoha shinobi flashed through twenty hand seals, bringing their hands to their mouths to release a Co-op technique.

"**Katon/Futon: Ten no honoo!"**

The flames of heaven soared at han, who attempted to jump over the S-ranked technique, but the jump was too shallow. His feet were caught by the pale white fire, and would have been disintegrated had they not been covered by three tails worth of chakra. Regardless of the chakra covering him, the burns still melted his powerful armor to his chest, causing the berserk man to roar in pain.

The enraged man began to thrash about, and the fourth tail erupted as the first three had. The armor melted away as the cloak intensified. The creature that stood before them was covered in bone, and had a centaurian appearance. The bone now would double as armor, and steam flowed from the bottom of the jinchuurikis feet freely. The creature disappeared from sight, reappearing as he slammed his fist into Itachis face, easily breaking the mask. The fight was only getting started.

**/-/**

Naruto was in a rush, having met up with both Inoichi and Chouza mere moments before. The two clan leaders had asked for Naruto to run with them to their clan compounds to make sure their defenses were still standing. After making confirmation, the trio rushed off to meet with Shikaku, who had sent up a red distress flare two minutes ago.

When they arrived on scene, they were confronted by six enemy Jounin bearing the hidden cloud Hitai-ate. Quick work eliminated two of the imposing threats before they all split from the group, Naruto taking two of the Jounin for himself. Naruto flashed through two handseals and lifted his hand to his mouth, shooting off a **Kaze no yari**, or wind spears, towards the Jounin duo. They also jumped away from each other, dodging the spears by a hairs width. One of the two Jounin were presented with a nasty gash for their efforts, blood dripping from the abdominal wound. The kumo ninja shouted in anger, flashing through his own handseals too quick for Naruto to follow.

"**Raiton: Gian!"**

Naruto deftly dodges to his left, barely dodging the lethal lightning bolt. He could feel his hairs stand on end, showing the absolute amount of electricity in the technique. 'If I hadn't removed my resistance seals earlier…'

A mighty blow from behind left Naruto stumbling forward, having been blind-sided by one of the opposing Jounin. Lightning crackled around the man wildly, his white hair standing on end. He was using the Yondaimes famed lightning armor technique, and Naruto knew he was in a world of trouble.

Rolling with the blow, Naruto began using two different sets of one handed hand seals, manipulating both of his elements at the same time. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and now was as good time as ever to try out his experimental technique.

"**Enton…Entei no Yoroi!"**

The wind and fire chakra whipped around his body before merging and settling like a second skin, which glowed in an ethereal white light. The flames arched to and from his body slowly, almost lazily. The enemy Jounin could feel the heat generating from the armor a good ten feet away

"You come into my home… And destroy EVERYTHING!" The eight year old shouted, disappearing from view.

The Kumo Jounin both knew that their Rai no Yoroi would do, but they had no idea what this new technique was capable of. And they would never find out.

Two white flames shot from the enemies chest, as if impaled on a sword of fire. Naruto had appeared behind the two, his hands poised out in front of him. Two logs dropped to the ground as opposed to two bodies, and Naruto blurred from existence once again.

The Jounin and Naruto clashed multiple times, and the landscape was destroyed beneath them. Chouza and Inoichi at this point had finished their own fights, returning to aid the blond jinchuuriki in his own battle. They were amazed when they saw one Jounin fall prey to Naruto, who had shot flames from his hands at a breakneck speed. The second Jounin was stunned for just a second, and that was all it took for the two clan leaders to intercept and decapitate the kumo nin.

Naruto appeared in a flurry of flames, staring down the two that had stolen his kill. He nodded his head in respect to the two before the three shot off in the direction of the main gate, leaving a trail of dust and burning debris in their wake.

Now leaf knew what it was like to fight a war on their home turf, and they didn't like it one. Damn. Bit.


	8. Crushing the Scepter

Naruto no Enton, chapter 7, Crushing the Scepter

**Authors notes: Well, I'm gonna be going to the hospital later on today, so I'm going to try to release a new chapter. My sickness has gotten extremely bad and I'm not convinced it is more than Bronchitis.**

**Naruto versus Han this chapter, and the rebuilding of the village after that. Things aren't what they seem in the world of shinobi, and Hiruzen wants to know why Ame has allied itself with both Iwa and Kumo. The reason will be revealed later on in the story, rest assured.**

**Credit for the Enton… Entei no Yoroi belongs to xNamikazeKyuubix, as will a few of the enton techniques that I might use. Others are completely original. **

**The techniques used last chapter were mostly original, save the enton and ration technique. The translations of the techniques were always very close to the point at which they were casted.**

**Reviews:**

**deltabeta26: Actually, pretty good questions.**

**First, Pein at this point is in control of Ame. Danzo helped Hanzo during the Ame rebellion arc, which led to the death of Yahiko. In my story, that drove Nagato and Konan to Iwa, seeking help in destroying the leaf village. There are strings being pulled for this to happen, all will be revealed at a later date.**

**Second, Itachi was a prodigy and in a war by that age himself, as well as Hatake Kakashi. Enough said on that.**

**xNamikazeKyuubix: I know what you mean about the Han fight scene. Ive read a few fanfictions that had rather drawn out fights with him in them, but those fights are purely based on what we know from him. I hope to be able to do something like this eventually, maybe even in this chapter.**

**I give credit where credit is due, I apologize about not putting it in the last chapter, I really didn't even think about it.**

**inverted23: While I appreciate what your trying to say, I used the English translations of the techniques soon after I wrote them.**

**On a side note, this chapter will be about as long as the last chapter, maybe three thousand words. I just got back from the hospital, and ive been diagnosed with walking pneumonia. Im gonna be sitting around the flat for a while, so I might just get a few good chapters in.**

**/-/**

Explosions rocked the streets of the village hidden in the leaves, and the shinobi of the four villages waged battle viciously. Blows were exchanged evenly, and jutsu were tossed about haphazardly. Kunai were being dodged and thrown by the second, shinobi dying just as quick.

The streets of the village were slick with blood, which ran a few inches deep of the life force in some areas. Grey matter and organs hung from debris in the background, adding to the image of pure carnage, ensuring that the village would never be quite the same. The Hyuuga clan had suffered minimal injuries, and even fewer casualties plagued the clan. They fought off the main force of the enemy advancement, using their unique Jūken taijutsu to either maim or outright kill the opposing forces.

The Ame shinobi that were amongst the Kumo and Iwa shinobi had shocked the warriors of the leaf village greatly, but brushed it off until the siege was crushed. Enemy generals were targeted by the great Inuzuka clan, who used their powerful senses to track down the leaders. The Uchiha shinobi had followed after the Inuzuka quickly, hoping to crush the advancing joint force under their might.

Arrogance was the downfall of many great shinobi on both sides, but the battle stopped for no one person. Katon techniques were countered by Suiton techniques, and Doton by Raiton. A few shinobi in the Iwa force had been part of the Blast Corps, throwing about Bakuton techniques like they were going out of style. This is where we find our young hero, battling for his life, and for his village.

"ARGHH!" Naruto shouted, clutching his right arm, which hung at his right side, bloody and raw.

The enemy shinobi, a man named Mumei Yūrei, had been Narutos opponent, and was thoroughly defeating the young Enton enhanced shinobi. His right eye was swollen completely shut, a massive gash cutting from his forehead to his jaw line which intersected his whiskers. Naruto was sure his jaw was broken, as well as his collar bone.

Mumei was looking no better than Naruto, having large patches of clothes missing which showed the fourth degree burns that littered his body. Most of his hair was singed away, and the cloth from his Hitai-ate was melted to his flesh. The child Mumei was staring down was no ordinary being… hell, he was sure the child wasn't even human at this point, considering the white flames that covered his body so thoroughly.

It had taken the no named ghost three different times to finally slow the flaming child down, having used his **Bakuton: Shintō-sei no dageki (Blast release: Concussive blow) **to ground the child for a moment. The technique was one of his own creation, much like the Wave fist. When Naruto went down, the enemy only had moments to deal damage to the usually untouchable child.

"**Bakuton: Sukai taberu!" (Blast release: Sky eater!)**

The explosive chakra shot forth from Mumeis' hands, taking the shape of bullets that sped towards Naruto. Said boy could only jump back away from the bullets, expecting them to hit where he once stood. What he didn't expect, however, were the bullets to start tracking him. The boy stumbled over rubble that was strewn about, dodging as his life depended on it.

Naruto shot flames from his fist as he went through the defensive kata of the Gōken style, knocking the bullets from his course and into the surrounding areas. The boy was panting as the last bullet was deflected, and his vision was wavering. The enemy fared no better, having started wobbling on his feet. He was about to charge the child again when he heard the words that stopped him in his tracks.

"Jiraiya has arrived!" Screamed an elder figure as he lept over debris, a Spiraling sphere of chakra held in his clutches.

Mumei had turned and attempted to run from the legendary figure, only to be stuck into the ground which had giving way to a swamp.

"**Doton, Yomi numa!" (Earth release, Swamp of the underworld!)**

Naruto raised his hands from the ground, a smile on his disfigured face. He winced slightly as he felt his wounds begin to heal, watching in awe as Jiraiya ran the blast corps member through with the rasengan.

"Thank you, Jiraiya-sama!" the child attempted to shout, but all Jiraiya heard was garbled mumbles.

"Kid, don't worry about it. Do you think you can keep fighting, or do you need to see Tsunade?" The old sage asked, his eyes holding no humor. This was the first and final time Konoha was invaded, that much Jiraiya swore.

Naruto shook his head and reached into his kunai pouch, pulling from it a small white scroll. He promptly opened the scroll and unsealed its contents, which was a whole batch of soldier, blood and food pills. He popped two of each, swallowing them whole as opposed to chewing them as he would have. It was three minutes before the Kyuubi had healed his jaw enough for him to speak again, and five minutes before his arm was able to be moved.

Naruto looked over the battle field, his Entei no Yoroi having died down once Jiraiya had saved his life. He was going to try to conserve as much chakra as he possibly could, as it seemed the battle being waged was still far from over. Naruto had faced Jounin and chuunin alike, each strong and weak in their own right. While he was eight, he was trained by both the Sandaime and Godaime hokage, as well as Konohas foremost Taijutsu master. Three years of rigorous, nonstop training had paid off in spades, though he was still critically wounded in the last battle.

"Jiraiya-sama… why are their Ame nin amongst Kumo and Iwa platoons?" The blond jinchuuriki asked, rolling his right shoulder for good measure.

The man shook his head grimly, motioning for Naruto to get his belongings sealed back up and continue to fight. "We are not sure yet, but it seems Ame has a new leader… one that hates us as much as Iwa and Kumo does."

Naruto nodded curtly, sealing his medical supplies and pills away quickly, rolling his shoulder once more. "To think that three nations invade us in a joint attempt… this is ludicrous!"

Jiraiya nodded his head, looking over towards the main gate of Konoha where the Sandaime and Godaime were fighting off an enraged jinchuuriki.

"Naruto… lets go, we gotta help sensei and hokage-sama." Jiraiya spoke, his eyes gazing over the bloody battle field that was once a beautiful place.

Naruto nodded before reactivating his Entei no Yoroi once again, impressing Jiraiya who had no idea of the technique.

"Nifty Katon technique, think you could teach me later?" the perverted sage asked, his eyes going over Narutos new appearance with an appraising eye.

Naruto laughed, shaking his head slowly. "No can do Jiraiya-sama… this isn't a Katon technique."

If Jiraiya knew one thing, it was Fire was Katon, and nothing else. He voiced his thoughts promptly.

"Kid, well talk about it later, but Katon is fire. Nothing else." And with that, the gallant Jiraiya sped off towards Konohas main gates to help defend his home from an enraged jinchuuriki.

Naruto followed close after, flashing through a different set of one handed seals, each landing on the half tiger seal. Smoke began to pour from his mouth again, except that instead of being just a smoke screen, this smoke had rather temperamental properties.

It was his own version of the Hidden mist technique, in that it completely eliminated sight and magnified the users hearing as the hidden mist did. The special property of the technique is that if the user didn't coat their lungs with chakra or their eyes, both vital organs would be burned horribly. This was not a technique to use around allies, that much Naruto was sure.

The only reason he had casted the technique was to hide his glowing white figure against the crimson stained night, though a giant, rolling smoke screen was hardly stealthy either. Naruto flashed through five more handseals, raising his hands to the sky.

"**Enton… Jinrui no aki!" **(Blaze style, fall of mankind!)

A flaming spear shot into the air, easily climbing through the atmospheric gas at astonishing rates. When the massive spear reached maximum height, it burst into many different kanji, spelling out Iwa, Kumo and Ame respectively. As soon as the kanji appeared, they dispersed back to fire and merged into one giant symbol that would remain in the sky for hours. That symbol was death.

While the technique could be used in battle, Naruto figured that intimidation would do just as well. He finally let the smoke screen drop as he and Jiraiya appeared approached the gates of Konoha, letting the forces of both armies see their arrival. Hatake Kakashi was fighting back four Jounin with the assistance of Sarutobi Asuma and Maito Gai, While Kurenai and Anko fought off three chuunin of their own.

The Konoha forces, while smaller than the invading army easily fought them back, destroying moral amongst the enemy. All S-ranked shinobi had been pulled to the front lines, leaving those A-ranked and below to protect the village that was slowly falling to shambles. Naruto, while he was only a B-ranked shinobi, was required to fall forward to the front lines, his Entei no Yoroi growing stronger and stronger as he fed the technique more chakra.

"LETS DO THIS!" the child roared, swinging a wide arch with his arm which released a long, white stream of flames. Many of the enemies had been stunned when they had seen a rather large smog rushing towards them, and even more shocked when a lance shot towards the sky and spelled out the death of the three villages.

The Konoha strike forces capitalized on the momentary distraction, and the joint army paid dearly for it.

Death had been the threat, and death was being delivered swiftly. The smog had dropped, showing a young man standing at five foot two doused in white flames, which seemed to sway lazily around said child.

Had it been any other moment, the shinobi were sure they would have laughed, but if the spelling in the sky had told them anything, it was that this child… no, this monster meant business. And business always came before pleasure.

**/-/**

The battle between Han, Hiruzen and Itachi had gone to hell as soon as the man sprouted the fourth tail. Itachi was severely wounded, with a large portion of his arm gashed and wounded with Yokai. Hiruzen had fared slightly better, using every technique in his arsenal to hold back the raging monster of a man.

Itachi had asked for a distraction. Hiruzen was about to comply when a white lance made of flames shot at the enraged jinchuuriki. Hiruzen was shocked at seeing such a technique, as there was no Katon technique to his knowledge that could do such a thing.

The retired Hokages vision was soon seeing as a rather short, glowing figure confronted Han, buying both of the Hokages time to catch their breath.

"Your fights with me now, fugly." Naruto spoke above the roaring flames of his technique.

Han had merely grunted, swinging his glowing orange arms towards Naruto, steam shooting from the palm of his hands in geysers. Naruto responded with his own technique, the white flames of his armor technique pushing the steam back easily. With a mighty push, Naruto had completely evaporated the scalding water vapor, and shot the large stream of fire into Hans chest.

Said man was blasted back by the attack, and if it wasn't for his chakra cloak, he would have been critically wounded. The two continued to exchange blows, but their Chakra armor kept both from sustaining any ground breaking injuries. Hiruzen stared at his adoptive grandson in both fear and pride, seeing that the child had finally found his will of fire.

Itachi, on the other hand, had his eyes closed in concentration, a tri-pronged kunai laying in his palm. The mangekyou wielder snapped his eyes open and lunged a brace of the hiraishin kunais around the enemy general, whos chakra cloak had begun to recede. With a whisper of 'Amaterasu', ebony black flames joined the pure white flames of Naruto, who looked shocked at seeing the strange colored flames.

"NARUTO, GET BACK!" Itachi shouted over the screaming man and the raging fight that was going on behind them.

Naruto complied immediately, and was graced with a black flash of 'light' appearing around the man dozens of times as the cloak of Yokai around the man was dropped all together. Gashes appeared on the now bare skinned man, and three seals were slapped on the mans' chest, back and forehead. Soon, Han dropped to the ground face first, completely and utterly defeated.

The joint forces, seeing their leader fall, all began to retreat in terror. The Iwa shinobi instantly knew what technique was being used when the black 'flashes' began to occur, and the terror they felt was practically palpable. The Kumo shinobi had never been on the receiving end of the technique as they had been allies with Konoha during the third Great War. They were told the yellow flash had died, and when the survivors of the retreating forces ponder on these thoughts later, they would realize that the yellow flash was indeed dead, and the black flash has replaced him.

Ame knew that they were defeated when the white flame had shown himself on the battle field, seeing as he fought back the enraged monster with what appeared to be ease. They knew they were dead when the black flash had shown himself. Both shinobi had made a name for themselves in the invasion, as well as Hiruzen who had replaced the Yami no Shinobi. A new name was added under Sarutobis belt, one that would hold more power than the kami no shinobi and the professor. A name that would strike fear into any mortal man… **Shi no sakibure, or the harbinger of death.**

The retreating Shinobi were cut down in a hail of Kunai, Shuriken and Senbon. The leaf showed no mercy for the enemy forces, as they had not shown any to the leaf. The dead cowards dropped to the ground lifelessly, the light in their eyes gone before they even touched the earth. The kunai were all enhanced by a form of wind elemental chakra, courtesy of a large mass of futon jutsu being aimed into the retreating foes. Death came swift, and death came violently. The few shinobi that got away with their lives were hailed as war veterans in their home villages, most retiring from the ranks all together.

The leaf shinobi cheered as the last shinobi disappeared from sight, but none dropped their guards. They had just survived a large onslaught by the hairs of their teeth, and they now knew fear. Something like that should have never happened, and the front line fighters of Konoha now knew what they had to do.

Become the weapons that struck fear into the Elemental nations as a whole, and do all they could to ensure the life of the great tree.

**/-/**

It had been five months since the invasion of the joint forces, who had now come to be known as the **Idaina san-koku dōmei, **or the great three nations alliance. The civil war in kiri was coming to a close, and Itachi was contemplating sending more forces to speed along the process so kiri could aid them in the war front. Many border skirmishes had occurred in the past three months, and kumo was pushing for more ground in Ta no Kuni, or the land of tea. Word had gotten out that there was a new hidden village within Ta no kuni, known as Otogakure no sato. The new village had been taking in missing nin as their own shinobi, and the country was easily prospering with the new hidden village.

Jiraiya had gotten word of the leader of otogakure from one of his informants, and immediately brought the information to the Godaime. Itachi was shocked at the news, and torn in his decision on how to react to this new information.

"Jiraiya-sama… tell me… do you think it's time for the last of the Sannin to aid his village?"


	9. Riding the wave!

Naruto no Enton, chapter 8, Riding the waves

**Authors notes:**

**I'm in desperate need of a Beta. Someone wanna help me out?**

**Well, my week has been terrible. The pneumonia has gotten worse, but I can seem to stay away from my laptop, so I've decided to just lay in bed and type. I have quite a few ideas but some of them go FAR from canon, so I think I'm going to save them for a later story or something haha.**

**I've gotten many reviews stating that they don't like Itachi using the hiraishin. Think about it this way.**

**Naruto has no skill in FuuinJutsu. Jiraiya cannot use the technique, and neither can the Sandaime. Minato would leave the instructions for his hiraishin technique for someone who CAN use the technique, as Konoha would need it for an edge over the other villages. Sandaime gave the technique to Itachi for a reason.**

**If you were a nin, and you had a technique you weren't sure your children could use, wouldn't you want SOMEONE to use the technique to better the village? I think im the only person who thinks so at this point.**

**This part of the story will not change, as I like the idea. Hate it all you want, but don't let it stop you from reading my story please.**

**Another thing, Akatsuki will play a major role in this story later on, trust me. Madara is alive and well, and will be the main antagonist.**

**/-/**

**Reviews: **

**Tristan76: I LOVE YOU! Not to be awkwardly taken or misconstrued haha. Orochimaru might not rejoin the village, but I know he will be AIDING Konoha in the warfront. What was left unsaid was that Orochimaru was a deep agent, who 'betrayed' the village so they would have a spy in akatsuki. Orochi left akatsuki when Madara found out he was a double agent, and now has started his own village to aid Konoha and to hold off Ame.**

**I completely agree with you about the Bloodline/ No bloodline argument.**

**deltabeta26: Bahahaha, maybe Konohagakure is a cult, who knows?**

**No, their goals will not change. This is simply them speeding up the war process to draw all of the jinchuuriki to the front lines. Han is NOT dead, as he was sealed with three different notes. Kumo will be the next to lose a jinchuuriki, but not to death. That will be a surprise.**

**InARealPickle: Im sorry you don't like the idea, but its going to remain the way it is. The likes of many outweigh the likeness of one, im sorry. I do appreciate your input though, so don't let one thing about this turn you away.**

**To everyone else: I love you guys, so much. Yer awesome! Haha, keep reading and reviewing, cuz every one of them makes me smile, and gives me the inspiration to continue to write.**

**On with the story~**

**/-/**

Emotions played across baby blue eyes as he stared down the figure before him, the world around the two at a stand-still. Blood red eyes locked with the blue, but neither gave any leeway to the other. The opposing wills clashed time and time again, each with their own agenda.

Finally, the baby blue eyes looked away, and the crimson eyed youth smiled. "Naruto-kun, you cannot beat me… for I am Uchiha fucking Itachi!"

Naruto screamed, waking up with a start. Cold swear drenched his skin, his blond hair matted to his head. "Okay… no more Dango before bed."

The sky-clad child rolled out of bed, wide awake in both shock and fear. He kept glancing over his shoulder, expecting to see Itachi standing there, waiting to stare him down. While such fears were childish and irrational, Naruto would beg to differ to anyone that asked.

A quick shower and a field ration later, Naruto found himself in his bed room. He glanced at his closet before shaking his head, reaching for the package that lay at the foot of his bed. He had forgone the armor after perfecting his Entei no Yoroi technique, now sticking with just the mesh shirt.

Itachi had inaugurated him into the shinobi force directly after the invasion of the great three, leaving the boy as a chuunin. While he had Jounin level chakra control and kage level chakra reserves, he was still a child and had no leadership experience under his belt.

An ebony colored chuunin vest rested on the boys shoulders in place of the carmine colored chest piece, while the rest remained the same. Kunai and shuriken pouches had been foregone completely, as they usually melted to slag when he used his enton techniques. Large metal gauntlets lay on the boys hands, each inscribed with seals for flame immunity.

The gauntlets were gifts from both Jiraiya and Hiruzen, both having seen the boy in action wielding his Enton techniques. They were specially made to never melt, regardless of how hot the flames Naruto used were. They were just for added protection, and for standard taijutsu. The fingers of the gauntlets were wickedly curved for slashing, while the knuckles were riveted for tearing flesh.

The woodland camo fatigues were replaced by solid black fatigues of the same design, also bearing the same seals. The boots had been replaced with calf high black Zori sandals, for both speed and silence. Hidden blades were placed at both the toe and heel of the sandals, both drenched in a vicious poison.

A white ANBU issued cloak was placed over his shoulders to finish his ensemble, hiding the boy's stature completely. A quick **Shunshin **led Naruto to the Hokage tower, which was undamaged in the invasion. The village had mostly been left untouched, which shocked Konoha greatly. Only the outer portions of the village suffered damage and what buildings towards the middle of the village that did suffer damage were fixed quickly.

Two months after the invasion, and the village looked better than it did before the invasion. The old wooden buildings had been replaced with more modern, metal buildings. While they still looked traditional, they were much stronger, and had better overall defense. The sleek build of the new buildings helped dictate the change that the village went through, from old to new.

Naruto sighed gently before pushing through the large tower, stopping at the secretary's desk for a brief moment.

"Neko-san, I am here for my appointment…" The boy mumbled just loud enough for the woman to hear.

The woman waved him in after confirming Naruto's appointment, a smile on her face. She was an ex-ANBU member who had lost her leg in the invasion just months before, but never truly wanted to get rid of her code name. She was allowed to keep her mask and cloak, and was given the job of secretary much to her surprise.

Naruto quickly pushed through the large double doors that led to the room housing his leader. The Hokage was sitting patiently at his desk, his fingers clasped before his face. A small smile graced Itachis lips when Naruto dropped to one knee and bowed his head.

"Naruto-kun, no need to be so formal with your sensei, ne?" Itachi asked, pulling the Hokages Tri-hat down further to hide his eyes.

Naruto simply stood and nodded his head, a smile on his whiskered face. "You asked for me, sensei?"

Itachi sighed, pulling a scroll from his inner robe much like Sarutobi did and tossed it towards Naruto, who caught it deftly. "We have been aiding the Kiri rebels for some time now, but the progress being made is slow… this is where you come in."

Naruto opened the scroll and read the contents quickly. When the information was firmly in his mind, Naruto tossed the scroll into the air and burned it to ashes with a sweep of his hand. He made sure the ash was swept from the floor and placed in the trash can before looking towards Itachi solemnly.

"When do I leave Hokage-sama?" Naruto questioned, his eyes alight with passion.

"Immediately, do you have everything you would need for an extended mission?"

Naruto nodded his head in the positive, pulling a scroll from his chuunin vest pocket. He replaced the scroll after Itachi confirmed his preparedness. 'This is going to be one hell of a few months.' The eight, about to be nine, year old mumbled in his mind.

**/-/**

The northern gates of Konoha had remained closed for months, having only recently been repaired enough to be functional. It was one of the lesser used entrances to the village, but a greater used exit. Most shinobi stuck to this gate as it led straight to the main roads of Hi no Kuni, which then led to both the docks and the Capitol.

Naruto would be using this exit to make way to the docks, where he might find a ship leading to Nami no Kuni. Jiraiya's spies have made confirmation of who was letting enemy shinobi use the land to get directly to Hi no Kuni, to which Itachi immediately put a mark on the man's head.

Naruto's mission was two-fold, to make an example of this man for the entire world to see, and to free the land of waves from the tyrant leader that has the land in his grips. Said man's name was Gato, of Gato's shipping corporation. The bounty on his head was rather decent, but Naruto needed no money for a job like this, as he would do it as a favor to the earth and its entire population.

It was after hours of travel that Naruto found himself at the docks of Hi no Kuni and an hour after that before he was boarding his ship. Security had been tight around all areas of trade, as enemy shinobi might attempt to break through the borders. Many leaf shinobi were sighted walking to docks and the towns that surrounded it, either for intimidation of defense Naruto wasn't sure.

Naruto himself was never assigned border duty, having either all of his time dedicated to training or helping Itachi with paperwork. A few times had Naruto sat in the Ne shinobi joint training program that was implemented a month after the invasion, as it was mandatory for standard enlisted shinobi to attend the program twice a month if they weren't on a mission at the time.

The ship Naruto boarded was small, but spacious enough to house twenty people for a trip to Nami. The crew of the ship were all retired shinobi ranging from gennin to ANBU, each with an expertise in either Suiton or Futon techniques. The ships that Naruto would be boarding today were not standard shipping or transport vessels, but a war ship of a small design made for quick transport.

The vessel was underway soon after Naruto boarded, as the crew and its captain were already debriefed for the mission they would be running. They would get Naruto into wave quietly, and then await his return at a nearby warehouse that was under control of Hi no Kuni. It was a three day trip from the land of fire to wave country, and it had gone by without strife much to Naruto's relief.

Naruto exited the ship quickly, ghosting along the misty covered roads of wave. His white cloak easily blended in with the environment, and no one was made aware of his presence. He made it to the safe house he would be using after a few moments of travel, which was hidden among the run down shacks that used to resemble a town. The safe house was blood sealed and covered with a Genjutsu much like the ANBU shop in Konoha had been, hiding its appearance from the villagers easily.

The inside of the safe house had been Spartan, consisting of a small kitchenette and futon bed. The dining area doubled as a planning room so Naruto could think ahead on how to get in, assassinate Gato and get out. Stealth was never his forte, but it had been drilled into his head for the past few months.

After the invasion, Itachi had called in a favor from Ex-ANBU captain Hatake Kakashi to train Naruto in the ways of the Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai. While he may not be joining the forces, Naruto was taught the ways of stealth and assassination as a back-up skill, as all shinobi should have those base skills.

Naruto had taken the lessons to heart and added the skills to his already impressive skills of stealth from his younger days. While Naruto was training with Kakashi, he had learned to lighten up and took quickly to the masked man's personality. He was quick witted and lazy, but very vocal about his beliefs in companionship and team-mates.

Naruto was evolving as a person just as much as he was a shinobi, much to the relief of Hiruzen, Jiraiya and Itachi. While they were in need of a weapon, they didn't want a heartless monster like most villages have.

It was night fall before Naruto left the safe house, and his objective was to gather intel for the first few nights. Naruto leaped from rooftop to creaky rooftop, his eyes scanning the streets and the skyline before him. While it was dark and he was dressed in different shades of non-color, Naruto was careful of any goon or goblin that might be patrolling the streets below or above.

Naruto finds himself perched in a large oak that hung over Gato's rather large estate, which was patrolled by hundreds of different, wanna-be samurai. The patrol route had been easy to figure out, there wasn't one. While the thugs might intimidate normal civilians who might attempt a hit on Gato, they did nothing to deter any skilled shinobi.

'Hell, even a gennin could take this midget out…arrogant little bastard.' Naruto rambled in his head, who shook said thoughts away quickly. Aggravation was rather pointless as it made his job a helluva lot easier. He continued to observe the estate for a few hours before turning in, seeing as there was no point in memorizing something that wasn't there.

**/-/**

Three weeks have passed since Naruto arrived in wave, and he was preparing to spend his last day of Intel gathering watching Gato and get down his pattern of operation. Naruto was to barge into Gato's estate, eliminate all of his hired thugs, and bring the man to the town square to be made an example of.

This is where his secondary mission was to come into play. Momochi Zabuza and his apprentice were hired by Gato to be his personal body guards for the span of six months. Naruto was to convince Zabuza and his apprentice to join him on his mission, which was to commence the moment he had finished off Gato and surrendered his business to the people of wave.

"Lets' get this over with," Naruto mumbled under his breath, flashing through a set of five hand seals before bringing his hand to his mouth.

"**Futon: Atsuryoku sonshō o kensaku." (Wind style, Grinding Pressure Damage)**

The whispering winds brushed through the gates of the compound easily, a slight flux of chakra being the only indicator of the technique being casted. The winds began to pick up, sweeping a few thugs from their feet. Northern gales soon overtook the expanse of the strong hold, kicking up the dirt and gravel that paved the paths easily.

A few more hand seals later, and Naruto brought his hands to his mouth again.

"**Katon: Eikō no kakudai-ha." (Fire style, expanding wave of glory)**

The surrounding area was instantly set upon fire, which glowed an unnatural yellow in the rather sunny day. The goons were cooked alive in a few seconds, dropping to the scalding ground like flies. The smell of roasting flesh assaulted Naruto's nose soon after, who pushed his olfactory sense of smell to zero using chakra.

The flames died down after the chakra had been spent, leaving the grounds charred and corpses rapidly cooling from their premature roasting. A quick futon jutsu left the acrid smell of blackened flesh fleeting, letting Naruto bring his sense of smell back. He leaped from his spot in the grand oak, landing directly in the middle of the court yard.

Naruto casted his Entei no Yoroi the moment he hit the ground, and not a second too soon. A large dragon made of swirling water and chakra hit him directly, sweeping him from his feet. A man wielding a large zanbatou landed in front of the downed child, whose armor remained active throughout the water dragon technique.

"Who the fuck are you?" The man asked bluntly, his non-existent eyebrows lifting slightly.

Naruto moaned and flipped backwards from his laying position, landing on his feet. The white flames that arched and flickered around his body slowly grew in intensity, causing a slight roar to escape the blaze.

"Uzumaki Naruto… are you Momochi Zabuza?" The blond child asked, slipping into his modified Gōken stance.

The browless man nodded slowly, his hand reaching up for the hilt of his blade. His hand never made contact as he was blown back into the wall behind him, a sharp burning in his stomach.

'I didn't even see him move…' the man thought in shock, ripping the bandages from his mouth as to drain the saliva and blood. His shark like teeth had grazed his tongue when he hit the wall, which he almost choked on.

"Zabuza-san, my leader would like for you to hear me out… I have information on the rebellion in Kiri that you would be very… VERY interested in."

Zabuza paused slightly, before waving his hand over his back slowly. A figure dropped to his side, helping Zabuza to his feet as quick as he could as to not harm the man. "I'm listening Gaki, but don't try anything funny…"

Naruto smiled and lowered the hood of his cloak, his azure blue eyes staring directly into Zabuza's own.

"My leader had asked me to deliver the news of the on-going rebellion in Kiri. The leader of the rebellion is Terumi Mei, a rather youthful woman with two bloodlines…"

Zabuza's eyes widened dramatically, his jaw now hanging lower. Emotions played across the man's eyes a mile a second, his hands now shaking at his sides. "Mei… you really are doing it, aren't you…"

Naruto nodded his head and took a few steps towards Zabuza, his hands held in the air as a sign of peace, or no weapons. While he never did drop the Entei no Yoroi, he did cut the amount of chakra going into the technique.

"Gaki… what exactly is your mission?" The former kiri Jounin asked, his hands slowly going towards his zanbatou. Naruto stopped in his tracks and bowed a bit, stepping back a few steps to disarm the situation.

"I am to aid the rebellion in kiri, and the moment the Mizukage is overthrown I am to act as an ambassador for two months after the fall of Yagura."

Naruto snapped his gaze to the double doors leading into gato's estate, his armor technique flaring to live stronger than before.

"My other mission is to make an example out of this little pig… Konoha has offered to reimburse any money this man might have paid you to be his body guard, as well as aid you in getting back into kiri…"

Zabuza understood what the blond child before him was saying and removed his hands from the hilt of his sword. "Feel free gaki, I will not stop you."

"Who the hell are you, and why aren't you killing him?" The small man named Gato shouted towards the small group of shinobi, anger evident in his voice. He started to walk towards the group, expecting the goons he hired to assist him. That was… until his gaze made its way all around the court yard.

Every thug was dead. Roasted alive, some completely burnt to ashes. The few that didn't get cooked were laying on the ground, eviscerated. The man stumbled back, his cane laying forgotten at his feet. He fell back completely, landing hard on his behind.

"Wh-what happened?" the man stuttered, his glasses falling down his nose enough to see his beady little eyes.

Naruto grinned savagely, stalking towards the man slowly. He raised his hand in the air, and then closed his fist. A large blade made of swirling white fire materialized in the boy's palm, swirling as much as his armor was. The jinchuuriki disappeared from sight, only to reappear a moment later behind the man.

Agony was all the small man knew, as he now clutched where his right arm once was with his left. No blood spilled from the wounds, having been cauterized the moment the blade of white flame had passed through him.

"I happened, little man. It's time to face the music." Naruto shouted gleefully, grabbing the man by his collar and dragging him to the gates of the estate.

The blond youth kicked the gates off the hinges quickly, allowing him passage to the town square. The savage grin never left his face, but the flames had died down completely.

**/-/**

The large town of wave stared in shock at the sight before them, having all gathered the moment they heard the screams of pain from the small man Naruto had dragged through town. The blond child had decided to rally the people of the town, needing witnesses to get the point across to the elemental nations as a whole. A small smile replaced the savage grin that rested on his face, but for different reasons.

'This is all for Konoha.. I am their weapon, I will do as ordered…. Pfft, bullshit, I just felt like causing some havoc.' The boy thought, grinning once again. He had started skipping along the path, his hand firmly gripping the collar of Gato's rather expensive looking suit. The man bounced along with Naruto as he skipped, yelling every time he either made contact, or was lifted from the earth.

The duo finally stopped in the center of town, in the same area they slayed Kaiza as an example. Naruto nodded to each of the townsfolk one by one, his eyes sweeping the general area. The blond leaped from his spot on the ground to the rather large crucifix styled pole, grinning down at the little man dangling in his clutches.

"Retribution comes on black wings, Gato. You bled this country dry and allowed enemies of Konoha to travers freely through these parts… now, it is time for you to be made an example of."

He finished his sentence by draping the man over the crucifix and slamming a kunai knife through each of his three appendages. While he may not use kunai for combat, he had bought a brace of them just for the occasion. Gato bellowed in pain, tears running down his face freely.

The man thrashed in pain for a few moments, blood dripping from the wounds caused by the kunai embedded in his arm and legs. While the bellowing had ceased, he continued to whimper helplessly, having released his bowels a few moments ago. Naruto sneered and jumped down from the top of the post, coming to a crouch in front of the large gathering crowd.

Naruto flashed through three hand seals before speaking up, his voice carrying far and wide for all the people of wave to hear.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I am a Konoha shinobi, one that has come here seeking retribution for both wave, and the land of fire. This man has caused strife with my country by allowing those who would seek us harm free passage through to our land," Naruto shouted above the cheers of the crowd, "He has bled you all dry, and left this country a mere ghost of what it once was. I HAVE COME TO CHANGE THIS!"

The people of wave cheered for what seemed hours before Naruto spoke up again, taking another step towards Gato. "Are final words scum?"

The man spat at Naruto before screaming out to the crowd, his eyes wide in both pain and pure madness. "You all are fucking dead! I came, I saw and I conquered, you are all beneath me!"

Naruto shook his head before going through three different sets of handseals, each holding a different purpose. Chakra began to swirl around the boy lazily for a moment before being sucked back into his body, which caused him to glow in a ghostly blue light.

"**Enton: Bōkun no ikari…." (blaze release, wrath of a tyrant)**

Small blades of wind began to form around Naruto in a whirlwind, causing the people of wave to step back a few paces. The blades caught fire two seconds later as white flames danced around Naruto's feet, and soon the flames turned a dark blue. The ghostly blades of fire dances slowly around Naruto, and the flames at his feet soon rose and started forming chains.

"This is where it gets good, folks'," The blond jinchuuriki grinned, "Let the games begin!"

The blades short forth, piercing all non-vital areas on Gato's body. The chains wrapped around the appendages that were pierced with kunai, digging into the flesh that now hung from the man's bones.

Soon, the chains had stopped moving around the man's flesh and locked into place firmly. The blades had vanished, having dug deep pits in the tyrant's body. Naruto stopped to admire his work before holding his hand out, the white blade of flames appearing once again.

Gato by this point had passed out from the pain, but Naruto was having none of it. He slapped the man harshly with his free hand, which brought him back to the realm of consciousness. The man stuttered slowly, his eyes barely remaining focused. Naruto shook his head before hefting the flaming blade high.

"This is for wave, and for KONOHA!" The blond boy shouted, removing Gato's head from his shoulder.

The country of waves was now free from their tyrant, but Kiri was not. Naruto had moved past the people of wave who all cheered for him. A large celebration was thrown that night for the hero of wave as he was now known as, but Naruto would have none of it. Zabuza and his apprentice had followed the blond back to his safe house, where they will stay until early morning and then be on their way to Kiri.

One tyrant had fallen to Naruto's hand, and it was time another did as well.


	10. The Rolling Mist

**Naruto no Enton, chapter ten, comin' home**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or anything affiliated with the franchise. I own my laptop, and the words in my mind. I simply put them in typed form and show them to the masses in hopes they like them.**

**Authors notes:**

**Wow, bad reception of last chapter mostly, but some good reviews thrown in. I feel like a failure as an author in some moments, and a boss in the other.**

**Either way, I completely agree with some of the things that have been pointed out, and disagree with others. This is my story, and this is how I think canon would have turned out given the right turn of events.**

**Oh well, not everyone can love it, I suppose.**

**Reviews:**

**Tristan76: 3 hahaha I completely agree with you. Itachi will reveal everything to Naruto once he returns from mist, and there will be a surprise waiting on him. It will deal with his lineage, and it will lead into the Yin/Yang concept, and the time/space technique. This will far surpass the hiraishin, much like Madara's teleportation technique and his kamui. This technique will deal with sealing, which due to many people asking for Naruto to be a seal user. The kage Bunshin training will initiate soon, but not in mass effect like everyone has him do. **

**The yin/yang techniques will be used due to the fact that Naruto has a large portion of the juubi sealed inside of him.**

**xNamikazeKyuubix: Bro, Naruto will be the ultimate badass, but he will also be a softy for Haku and Mei. His enton training will take another step forward when he returns from mist, and he will gain abilities that will completely over shadow Itachi, mangekyou/hiraishin combo or not. Much love for the story your writing man, it's intense!**

**Snowcat: Thank you so much, you have no Idea how much that means to me. I'm definitely taking you up on that offer!**

**Dinndrako: While I understand where you're coming from, you have to understand that the ninja world evolves one technique at a time. While it was the best ten years ago, it is far from the best now that yinyang release and other space time techniques were introduced. Hiraishin won't have anything on the techniques Naruto will use. He may just transcend normal boundaries, but he won't be a god by any right. A mortal man will die just that, a mortal man. His legacy will live, though, forever.**

**And Itachi a Mary sue? Take a look at how he was before sasuke 'killed' him. That was who he really was, a compassionate person with a massive love for Konoha. I'm simply adding humor into the situation.**

**To everyone else, thank you very much for your responses to my story. Some no name had mentioned that the databook, manga and anime said haku and Kyuubi were male. To this, I laugh. This is FANFICTION. Don't like it, read the manga. I am allowed to tweak things to my liking, and to the liking of every one who reads this story. In the manga, it never gives the biju gender, as they are just masses of chakra given corporeal form. If you want to leave criticism, at least think it through before you review please. 'nuff said.**

**/-/**

The night came and went for the trio that was holed up in the Konoha safe house. The drawing board was pulled out, and the three discussed the plans long into the night.

"Wait, you mean to tell me they sent YOU as back-up for the rebellion?" Zabuza asked incredulously, his eyes staring a hole into the blond child before him, "Kid, you can't even be ten years old yet!"

Naruto stared at Zabuza impassively, a perfect poker face. His eyes held no compassion, no hints at what he was thinking. He didn't have a breath out of place, his body language betraying nothing.

If Zabuza was shocked he hid it well, his brown eyes closing in thought. The figure before him was far younger then he would have thought, his mind wasn't exactly clear when they fought. Now that the demon of the mist thought about it, the child looked oddly familiar. His apprentice, Haku, had voiced the same thoughts a few moments before they made it to the safe house.

"Tell me kid; what is so special about you to be doing something that… cold hearted at your age?"

Naruto starred a hole in the Ex-hidden mist Jounin before speaking, his voice devoid of any emotion.

"I have been training in the shinobi arts since I was six years old, and my teachers were two of the five Kokage's. I was personally trained by the foremost assassination specialist Hatake Kakashi, as well as Konohas best Taijutsu specialist."

"Well that's good and all kid, but the trainer doesn't make the shinobi." Zabuza chided, his brown eyes holding a small amount of humor. Haku nodded at his masters words and spoke his own opinion.

"While I agree with Zabuza-sama, I also disagree. Age means nothing in the world of shinobi, it all amounts to skill."

Naruto agreed with this concept, his eyes lingering on Zabuza's apprentice for a few moments. The child seemed to shuffle slightly at his gaze, but otherwise remained impassive. The blond chuunin smiled slightly and rose from his lazing position on the floor.

"We leave tomorrow before dawn, I expect you two to be ready."

Zabuza and Haku scowled but stayed silent, not caring to voice their own discomfort at being ordered around once again.

**/-/**

Morning came slowly for Naruto, who had been restless all night long. Something WAS different about him, something that didn't make any sense. The villagers of Konoha had avoided him like the plague, and the few that did speak to him did so with malice. He was able to avoid most of the hate by sticking to the back allies of Konoha, staying out of sight while he could.

He only came to the forefront of the villagers gaze when necessary, for both food and clothing. He remained in the orphanage for the first four years of his life, and was only removed from the confines of the blasted place when one of the matrons had struck him in anger.

Old man Sarutobi had given him a place to stay on the shinobi side of the village, somewhere civilians weren't allowed to traverse. It was a good place when he got it, but the ANBU that guarded him were fresh, and still clung to their fears and hate.

"Forgive, but never forget…" Naruto murmured, breaking himself forcefully from his revere. He rose from his sitting position and moved towards the kitchenette where there was a rather large window he could fit through. He slid the window up slowly and was blasted with a gust of wind, but pushed through.

Once the window was wide enough he slipped through and shut it gently behind him, leaping up to the roof of the safe house. The wind pressed gently through his sun kissed hair, Naruto having forgone wearing the forehead protector until the morning when the group left for the mission. The wind was chilling, but Naruto prevailed and rested his back on the old roofing.

The blue eyed youth let his worries flow away with the wind, and soon fell into a rhythm of shallow breathing. The sound of footfall broke Naruto from his easy breathing, snapping his gaze over to the perpetrator. He retracted his hand, which had erupted in the ghostly white flames, as soon as he saw Zabuza's young apprentice. Said apprentice held their hands out in a disarmed manner, hoping to keep the situation calm.

"What do you want…Haku?" Naruto asked from his position on the ground, his gaze having traveled back towards the stars and clouds that hung in the night sky.

Haku let his eyes trail over the child before him, having found out they were just a year apart in age. The androgynous boy let out a gasp as the clouds parted, sending moonlight to bath the area in its ethereal glow. The beams of lunar light seemed to make the figure laying before him age before his very eyes.

"I hope I am not interrupting…" Haku spoke finally, his breath having become mist in the wind.

Naruto didn't bother looking back over; instead his eyes continue to search the heavens. "You are not… but why did you follow me out?"

Haku had the decency to look abashed for a moment before laughing lightly, "You confuse both me and my master… I merely want to find out more about you, considering we are going to be working together for a while, ne?"

The laying shinobi laughed at Haku's words, but didn't deny them. "I suppose. What do you want to know about me?"

The genderless figure stayed silent for a moment, admiring the laying figure before sitting down next to the ten year old. "Just… anything that your willing to tell."

With a sigh, Naruto leaned up and placed his body weight on his arms, staying in a propped up position. His blue eyes wandered over the figure before him, not noticing any discerning traits that would give away their gender.

"Okay… my name is Uzumaki Naruto, chuunin of Konohagakure no Sato. I am ten years old, soon to be eleven by the time this mission is over. I love my village, and hate the great three for attempting harm on my village…" At this Naruto trailed off, his eyes scanning the skyline once again.

Haku stared at the figure, having discerned nothing from the boy's speech. While they learned his age, and name, that was it. 'He seems very passionate about his village…'

"You spoke of your name and rank… but I want to know YOU, not what your village wants you to be… "

Naruto looked up, shock etched across his face. Never before had anyone outside of Itachi and Hiruzen asked about him as a person and not a shinobi. Kakashi had once or twice, but the man was far too lazy to really dig deep.

"Ah… you know, outside of my surrogate family, you are the only person to ask about me as an individual," Naruto said, his eyes trailing down to meet the figures own, "But you have already expressed that it's only because of the mission."

Haku nodded as he lay down on the ground beside the figure, his mind racing.

"Let's try this again. I am Uzumaki Naruto; I enjoy training and spending time with Hiruzen-Jiji. My likes are training, and taking care of the few plants I own. I **HATE **the great three, and any who would cause harm to my home village," Naruto finally spoke up, "And my dream is to become the greatest legend out there, even more so than Yondaime-sama."

Haku smiled, and followed Naruto's example.

"My name is Momochi Haku. I enjoy training with Zabuza-Sama and picking herbs. I dislike the mists' current leader, and my dream is to help Zabuza-sama change Kiri for the best." The androgynous figure spoke, staring up at the night sky in wonderment.

Naruto laughed lightly, and rose from his position on the ground. "It's time for me to get some shut eye, we have a long trek before us. See you in the morning, Haku."

**/-/**

Morning had finally come, and soon Sol was peeking over the horizon. The trio had made it to the warehouse after ten minutes of walking, where Haku and Zabuza were amazed to find their transportation. The rather small ship was still large enough to accommodate the trio, much to their relief. The elemental powered warship sped along the oceans of the elemental nations, straight through Jikan no umi, the ocean of time. It was the ocean in between the main lands of the elemental nations, and the large island that Kiri was located on.

Travel was neither slow nor fast, and boredom set in rather quickly for the three shinobi. They couldn't actively train, due to lack of room on the vessel. Chakra control was drilled for Naruto, as he only had a few more steps until ANBU level control. His reserves bordered Sennin to kage level, and would only continue to grow as he matured.

Naruto wore his Hitai-ate in the bandana style once again, having placed it upon his head when the group returned to the safe house. His ebony black chuunin vest adorned his chest, the cloak forgone after the mission in wave. His whisker marked face glistened in sweat as he continued the sit ups, his feet sticking to the ceiling with a small amount of chakra.

'Push it, push it, keep it moving!' the young jinchuuriki screamed in his head, his mantra of concentration being unbroken by the movement of the elemental cruiser. Resistance training was not only to get the feel for gravity, but to build muscles through more force and confusion than regular sit ups.

Set after set was completed for his physical workout, enough to make Zabuza and Haku to stare at him in awe. _'I knew the boy was powerful for his age, but I was only doing regiments like that when I first joined the seven..' _ The demon murmured in his head, shocked that the boy could even set a pace like that.

Haku preferred to just blush and look away, his eyes averted to the left. _'This boy…'_ The androgynous being spoke up after a few moments, gazing up at the blond jinchuuriki. "Would you like breakfast Naruto-san?"

The Hokages prodigy nodded, dropping from the ceiling of the cruiser into a low crouch, sweat pouring from every orifice on his body. He grabbed his discarded flak jacket and shirt, slipping them both on quickly. Naruto moved towards the very small kitchenette, grabbing a bottle of water and leaning against the counter, his eyes closed.

The young ice user smiled meekly, walking to the sealing scroll placed against the counter Naruto was resting on. The young boy opened the scroll and pushed chakra into a seal located halfway through the scroll. Field rations fell onto the floor of the small carrier vessel, which Haku then dispersed between the three of them. They ate in silence, glancing out at Jikan no Umi as the waves crashed against the speeding vessel.

A peaceful silence prevailed among the three as they traveled at breakneck speeds. This continued for three days before the land of water came into view. The trio stopped the vessel twenty miles from shore, where they all proceeded to leap off of the boat and land on the water, their chakra keeping them from sinking.

Naruto flipped through three handseals before shooting a small bout of white flames from his lips, to which the captain of the vessel took as his queue to leave the place. The small warship immediately sped off, leaving the three to stand atop the water in awe at the speed of the boat. The waves that broke off from the wake left the three bobbing on the water, and before long the water leveled itself out.

The trio shot off towards land, using the water walking technique to stay atop of the water. Landfall was made in twenty minutes after the sinking, and as soon as their feet touched solid land, they shot off quicker than before into the heavy mist that surrounded the island.

Kiri was none the wiser that their downfall and conqueror was amongst them, nor that their beloved Yondaime Mizukage would be dead before the year was out.

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"Alright, Let's set up camp and try to make contact with the rebels," Zabuza began, setting his massive blade against a large boulder. The mist swirled protectively around the three, covering their scent and trail rather well. Visibility was extremely low, something Naruto was not used to. His discomfort was evident, which Zabuza immediately noticed. "Gaki, don't tell me a little mist bothers you."

Naruto's eyes shot up and glanced at Zabuza, who's voice came from all around him. "I keep forgetting this is your element, Zabuza-san. I am not used to such low… visibility." The Konoha nin murmured, his hands itching to clasp into a Futon technique to blow the mist away. Zabuza understood the boys plight immediately, having had the same problems when he first began training in the Kirigakure technique.

"You know… I really don't know how this is going to happen." Zabuza said, his gaze moving all around him. He could feel the chakra presence of many people, most of them right at a Jounin to ANBU level. Fear began to crawl up the spine of the demon, not knowing if this was either loyalist or rebels who surrounded the three.

Naruto too felt the chakra, his Enton no Yoroi blazing to life around him, the ghostly white flames flickering lazily. The water in the air made manipulating his Blaze techniques rather difficult, which the young blond cursed under his breath. Haku began flipping through one handed seals, senbon needles made of ice floating around the trio protectively.

Naruto spoke up, unsure of himself. "The mist dews on the leaves…"

A single response from the mist was all he needed to hear to relax, "The leaves fire drives the mist."

A grin made its way to Naruto's face, his Enton no Yoroi fading from existence. Zabuza continued to look around, his hand still inching towards the Kubikiri Hochou. A solidary figure stepped from the mist, their body covered and swirling with the water vapors.

"Rebel-san, I have come from Konoha to aid your cause, and have brought two shinobi with me to join your forces." Naruto spoke, moving towards the figure slowly. The figure soon stepped into the clearing, the mist fading from their persona. A beautiful woman, clad in armor made of ebon colored steel and mesh, was who graced the eyes of the three, her face set in a grim smile.

"Mei…" Zabuza murmured, his hands flinging away from his blade as he raced forward to embrace the figure before them. With arms wide open, Mei embraced Zabuza, her grim smile soon splitting her face in a large grin.

"It has been some time, Zabuza, How have you been?" The Kiri rebel smiled, now holding Zabuza at arm length as to inspect him. The man was clad in a solid black tank top, which tucked into a large pair of digital camo fatigues of various shades of blue, gray and white. His zori were shin high, while his bandages wrapped to just below his knee caps.

The bandages wrapped around his lower face were discarded immediately, a large smile on his pale face. "Things have been rather rough, Mei," Zabuza began, his voice strained slightly, "But Haku and I have gotten bye."

Naruto felt out of place, as well as Haku. The androgynous boy had only heard of Mei in passing, never meeting the female in person. Zabuza spoke highly of the Kunoichi, so Haku knew the female in front of him was not someone to trifle with. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Mei-san, Zabuza-Sama speaks very highly of you." Haku ended with a slight bow.

The meeting of the four figures eased the atmosphere greatly, the chakra signatures surrounding them having relaxed after the correct code words. One by one the figures entered the clearing, surrounding the four figures in the center in a tight circle. One of the figures stepped forward, a seafoam green robe wrapped around his body tightly. His blue hair was styled up in a single swoop upwards, Very reminiscent of one Monster of the Mists hairstyle. An eye patch covered his right eye, sealing tags tangling from his ears.

"My name is Ao, left hand of Mei in this rebellion," The man began, "We welcome you to the Kiri Revolutionary Army, and wish you well." With a small smile, Ao clasped his fist over his heart. "Merry meet, merry part, and merry meet again!"

The unusual trio returned the mantra, also clasping their hands over their hearts. "Alright, now that we are acquainted, let's return to base." Mei spoke, motioning for the large gathering to fall back and return to their safe house. Every figure in the clearing nodded their heads, each disappearing from view one at a time until only the five stood together.

"After you, Mei, you are the leader after all." Zabuza murmured, already in the process of wrapping his face in bandages. With a nod, the five rebels disappeared into the mist, and the clearing stood silent once more.

A figure dropped from the tree line, watching all of the retreating figures with a critical eye.

Alright guys, it has been a REALLY long time. I know, and im sorry.

My life was literally flipped upside down, and I ended up moving a few states from where I was.

Credits go to MegaDarkly for being a Beta for this chapter and all of the chapters to come. Check out his fanfictions, they are certainly worth the read.


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